


Dancing on the blades (you set my heart on fire)

by swanjonhesonice



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, I'll add more tags as the story goes on, Ice Hockey AU, Minor Jay/Carlos de Vil, Slow Burn, figure skating AU, i have like this whole thing planned in my head i really hope this doesn't suck, jaylos are gonna be the side enemies to lovers couple, mal likes to skateboard, minor mentions of chad and gil, rated teens and up because curse words
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2019-08-29 14:25:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16745692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanjonhesonice/pseuds/swanjonhesonice
Summary: • Don't stop us now, the moment of truth, we were born to make history. •aka the figure skating/ice hockey au no one really asked for but that I decided to write anyway.(A MALVIE / MEVIE MULTI-CHAPTER)





	1. Ice Breaker

  
One would think Saturday was a sleep-in day without any inconveniences. Well, not for Mal. Not when you live with an early Scottish bird for a roommate. Her precious sleep was taken away from her by an obnoxious alarm going off, one she knew all too well. Because she heard it every day. But on a Saturday? Damn, Mal was honest to god thinking of all the possible ways she could kick her roommate’s ass right now.

 

“…Harry?” She called from under the blankets.

 

“…Yeah?” The boy called from his side of the room.

 

“ _You fucking suck_.” She heard how her roommate stiffed a laugh, turned off the alarm, hit the shower and packed everything he needed inside his bag. Honestly, how was it possible for someone to be this noisy? Why did she agree to share an apartment with a boy again? With an annoyed groan, she exposed an eye just in time to catch Harry eating some pancakes while preparing a protein shake.

 

He felt a green eye on him and chuckled. “Didn’t mean to wake ye, Mal.”

 

“What time is it?” Mal all but slurred, her voice muffled by the warm blankets.

 

“Six-Thirty,” He replied after checking his watch.

 

Perhaps dying would be less painful. Mal groaned loudly.

 

“I’m sorry, lass; I have to get to practice,” Harry pointed out.

 

There was a bit of silence.

 

“ _You. Fucking. Suck_.”

 

This time Harry let out a little giggle.

 

“Why do you figure skating weirdos have to practice so damn early?” Mal then protested, still not fully awake.

 

“So the ice resurfacing machine can do its job so ye hockey weirdos can have the rink in the afternoon,” Harry swiftly replied to the pile of blankets that was his roommate, offering her a grin even though she couldn’t see it. Harry heard another groan. This happened every time.

 

Mal’s head slowly showed up from under the blankets, only to glare at the boy.

 

Ignoring Mal’s glare, Harry picked up his bag and, with a grin, opened the door and left.

 

Mal flopped back into her pillow, praying to dear god that she could go back to sleep. Just as she was about to, the door opened again and the jingling of the keys was torture for her ears. She heard Harry’s bag drop on the ground and a bunch of other noises she didn’t care about. Oh, she was going to kill him. Mal threw the blankets away and sat on the bed, somehow since she was all but groggy, the sound of the keys still ringing in her ears.

 

“Harry, _what the fuck is wrong with you?_ ”

 

“I’m so sorry, Mal, but I almost took yer skates instead of mine,” Harry explained.

 

Mal let herself fall back into the bed. She wanting to like, die, thirty times over every morning because her stupid roommate couldn’t go to practice in silence was sucking the life out of her soul - or what was left of it.

 

“So, what? I wouldn’t have minded. What I do mind is that you keep on waking me up.”

 

“Mal, yer skates are different from mine,” Harry calmly explained.

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Skates are skates. Stop being a weirdo.” Mal mumbled, snuggling against her pillow.

 

“Right, I’d love to see ye skating with a pair of figure skates,” Harry replied with a bit of mischief in his voice.

 

“Dude, I’ve been skating since I was six—"

 

“ _Want to bet_?”

 

Mal got up again and stared at Harry.

 

His piercing blue eyes were sparkling.

 

“What?”

 

“Bet me. Come to practice today with me. Ye don’t need to be a part of it. Just come to the rink with me, grab a pair of skates like mine and go on the ice. I dare you to do a full lap around the rink without falling. If ye can do it, I’ll crash at my choreographer’s house for a week, and ye get to sleep in—”

 

“Fine.” Mal agreed. She still wanted to die for being awake at this ungodly hour, but winning a bet against Harry would make up for it.

 

Mal valued sleep pretty much above everything else. Everything, except her pride. She has known Harry since she was a kid, and not once had she backed down on a challenge imposed by him.

 

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Ye don’t want to hear what happens if ye lose?”

 

“Still dreaming, Mister Scotland,” Mal smirked.

 

“Yer going to regret this,” Harry warned, but his warning had no worry behind it. He wanted her to regret every last bit of it.

 

“No, I’m not,” And Mal’s confidence didn’t waver.

 

Mal and Harry got along so well because they loved mischief. They were a bit chaotic, really. Ok, very chaotic. But it worked for them.

 

“Get yer lazy arse up then. We need to get going.”

 

“Bossy,” Mal mumbled just to spite him, but she got up anyway. She still would rather be under the covers of her bed; she won’t let you forget that.

 

Harry just chuckled and sat down, waiting for her.

 

  
//

 

  
Half an hour later, Harry and Mal were arriving at the rink they both knew so well, and Mal was already regretting her decision of getting out of bed for, like, the hundredth time since the alarm went off an hour ago. It was chilly, she had no coffee and she could barely keep her eyes open.

 

Harry, on the other hand, was chirpy and very much awake, bopping around to whatever was playing on the radio. Mal wasn’t really paying attention.

 

“Stop that,” Mal grumbled.

 

“Stop what?” Harry questioned as he parked his car.

 

“That cocky thing you have going on right now. It’s annoying. You’re annoying.”

 

“I just can’t wait for ye to fall flat on yer face.” Harry happily said, giving Mal a shit-eating grin and not taking her words seriously. That’s how they communicated.

 

Mal decided to ignore him and was more than happy to step inside the rink lobby, way less cold than outside.

 

As they approached the reception, Mal realized they were the first ones in there. Well, except for the receptionist, who was barely awake. Mal didn’t know her, though. Mal saw how Harry’s giddy eyes sparkled, as he tiptoed until he was next to her.

 

“Morning sunshine!” He all but yelled right in her ear, startling the young girl.

 

She quite literally jumped from her seat and glared furiously at the boy. “Do that to me one more time and I’m shoving those skates up your ass, you fucking prick!” The girl yelled and waved her fist at Harry, who was quite literally rolling on the floor, laughing like a maniac.

 

Mal, however, felt for the girl. She knew what it was like to have Harry waking her up at these ungodly hours.

 

The girl seemed to notice Mal just then. Not that Mal could ever go unnoticed, with her dark purple hair and a leather jacket to match.

 

“You his girlfriend?”

 

Mal snorted.

 

“No, _god no_. I’m the poor unfortunate roommate who has to deal with his shit every day.”

 

The girl left the counter to place a hand on Mal’s shoulder.

 

“I’m so sorry you have to live like this. I’m Uma, by the way,” the girl with the long braids introduced herself.

 

“I’m Mal. How come we’ve never met before? I play ice hockey here every day.” Mal questioned.

 

“That’s because I’m stuck with the morning shift of this boring ass job. When you come in for practice, I’m long gone,” Uma explained with an easy smile.

 

“See? Yer making friends already, Mal.”

 

The girls turned around to see Harry grinning at them.

 

“I completely forgot you were there,” Uma smirked at him.

 

“Aw, c’mon now. Be nice, love.” Harry chirped.

 

“I’m never nice in the morning,” Uma countered, crossing her arms, and Harry just laughed.

 

Mal raised an eyebrow, a gesture that went by unnoticed by both of them.

 

“Anyway, would you please be so kind to get Mal here some skates like mine? I have a practice to get to and a bet to win,” Harry requested, tilting his head with a stupid grin.

 

“Oh? You made a bet with this idiot?” Uma turned to Mal.

 

“I guess,” Mal shrugged. “In my defense, I’m not fully awake yet.”

 

Uma got a key from somewhere behind the counter and handed it to Harry.

 

“You help Mal, I want to finish my power nap before your stupid friends arrive.”

 

“But ye have to see me skate! I just perfected my quad salchow!” Harry pouted.

 

“And I already told you; I don’t know what that means.”

 

“Ay, you do—”

 

“Bye, weirdo!” Uma said with a wave, falling back into her chair and closing her eyes.

 

Harry chuckled softly, and when he looked over, he found Mal looking at him with her classic smirk perfectly in place.

“What?”

 

“You tell me, _weirdo_ ,” Mal only shrugged.

 

Harry decided to ignore that with a shrug and grabbed Mal’s arm.

 

“Let’s go ye grumpy soul, off to yer defeat.”

 

Mal decided she’d drop the matter. For now. And only because she wasn’t sufficiently awake yet.

 

  
//

 

  
“…Do those fit well?”

 

Mal raised her leg to the height of her eyes and moved her foot around, taking a good look at the white leather skates.

 

“Uh, I guess?”

 

Mal felt really weird with those skates on her feet. They were much lighter in comparison to her skates. Which was so odd, considering how stupidly big the blade was. She watched as Harry slipped his skates on his feet and protected the blades with two colorful red and blue guards.

 

“Put on the guards, Mal,” Harry instructed.

 

Mal complied and relaxed a bit when she realized she could stand easily with the skates on. Not that she ever thought she’d lose the bet or anything.

 

The two friends then made their way to the ice rink. There wasn’t a soul in sight, so Mal had been right to assume they were the first to arrive.

 

“You’re always the first here?” Mal asked curiously.

 

“Not always, no,” Harry replied while dropping his bag on the ground. “But I do get here first quite often,”

 

Mal groaned in response. The one thing she couldn’t understand about Harry was the little respect he showed for that marvelous thing called ‘ _sleep_ ’. She watched as Harry took off his guards and stepped into the ice.

 

“Before ye come, there’s one thing I must tell ye about the skates,” Harry said. “I still want ye to lose the bet, but I wouldn’t want ye breaking a leg or anything.” He quickly explained.

 

Mal took off her guards, nodded and waited. Breaking any bone at this point would be her demise. Her spot on the hockey team was already, somehow, slipping through her fingers and an injury would only seal her fate as a benched player for the entire season. Oh, and she would also lose her chance of playing in the nationals and being watched by scouts.

 

“These skates have toe picks in the front,” Harry announced.

 

Mal looked over at her own skates and analyzed the set of jagged teeth that were the toe picks Harry had just mentioned. They surely looked weird, compared to the blades of her skates.

 

“The toe picks help with the spins and the jumping. But their placing on the blade means ye can’t rely on the classic toe push for propulsion and speed,” Harry explained and Mal suddenly felt like she was being schooled on purpose. “So, good luck with that.”

 

“How the hell am I supposed to skate, then?” Mal protested with a groan. Harry was right. She was starting to regret all this, but hell would freeze over before she admitted it.

 

“Ye were the one who said there were no differences between the skates. Shouldn’t be that hard, eh?” Harry taunted with a smirk.

 

Mal wanted to smack him so bad, but for that, she had to actually step on the ice. So, she walked over and placed a skate on the ice. She immediately felt something was deeply different with how the ice and the blade felt on her foot, however, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

 

Harry was close by, with his arms crossed, waiting for her.

 

“I got this…” Mal mumbled to herself.

 

Here’s the thing: _She couldn’t be more wrong_.

 

As soon as Mal placed the other foot on the ice and settled her weight on both blades, she practically slammed into Harry, who was clearly expecting something of the sorts to happen and immediately grabbed her friend, preventing her from falling.

 

‘ _What the fuck_?’, Mal thought. She had been skating since she was old enough to learn. Why did she lose control of the skates like that? Oh yeah, those were figure skates, not ice hockey skates. Mal really should, like, wake up first before making stupid bets with her stupid roommate.

 

“Ye ok, Mal?” Harry asks, and Mal can’t tell if he’s serious or if he’s taunting her again.

 

“I’m fine, Harry.”

 

She wasn’t. She had no idea of how she was supposed to let go of his arms without falling. Mal experiments different weight placements, until she finds some sort of balance and releases her grip on Harry’s arms. She doesn’t fall, yet. She feels the toe picks scraping against the ice, making it harder to just stand. Her legs felt and looked like they were made of jelly and she felt like she was contracting every muscle in her body to keep it there.

 

Harry looks at her with interest.

 

“So, about that lap,” Harry grins while skating around his friend. “Ye sure yer up to the challenge?”

 

Mal almost forgot about the lap around the rink. She knew she couldn’t do it, not with those skates on, at least. But she wasn’t going to give Harry the satisfaction of admitting she was wrong and losing the bet while doing so.

 

“Of course, I am.” Mal replied, giving Harry a smirk.

 

He said she had to do one lap around the rink without falling. If she moved very carefully and very slowly, maybe she could pull it off. Harry never mentioned how she should do it or how long she should take.

 

Harry had an amused expression on his face. He knew Mal was struggling to just stand still, it was a mere matter of time until she fell. But Harry wasn’t, like, a demon or anything, so he stayed close to the girl. He wouldn’t want anything else but her pride to get hurt.

 

Mal looked over at Harry. She knew he was just waiting for her to fall and he didn’t need to wait much longer.

 

A soon as Mal tried to put one foot in front of the other, she completely forgot about the toe picks. She catches the toe pick of her right skate and quite literally slams her chin into the cold ice in an incredibly ugly fall.

 

If Harry couldn’t catch her in time because it all happened so fast or because he was now also on the floor laughing so much, he had tears running down his cheeks, the world would never know. Maybe a bit of both.

 

Mal groaned in pain and in shame. Not that she wasn’t used to slamming her body into the ice but that usually meant she was pushing an opponent out of the way or said opponent pushed her too hard trying to get to the hockey disk. Not because she suddenly couldn’t fucking skate.

 

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Now _that_ was impressive!” Harry chirped, still trying to stiff his laugh. “C’mon, let me help ye up,”

 

Mal turned her body until she was lying with her belly up and then sat up, massaging her chin. Harry grabbed her arm but she jerked his hand away.

 

“No, don’t help me. I got this,” Mal glared at the boy. She was determined to get up on her own. It didn’t matter that those weren’t her skates. They were still fucking ice skates - things she’s been using forever.

 

“As ye wish.” Harry chuckled, raising his hands in defeat.

 

Mal pressed her hands on the ice, to help her body up until she noticed something. Turns out Harry and her were no longer alone on the rink, because not so far from where they stood, there was a girl. A girl who was very hard to miss, with her blue hair. Well, it wasn’t just her blue hair, it was her everything. Plump lips, tanned skin, blue hair and warm brown eyes. Not to mention her body. She was looking at them curiously with a bit of a smile on her face.

 

She had no idea of how long the girl had been standing there, so Mal assumed the worst and the worst would be that this gorgeous girl had seen Mal making a fool out of herself. Now Mal had to get up in front of said girl, who was clearly interested in watching them. Well, perhaps dying would be better.

 

Scratch that. Dying would be a blessing compared to what happened next. Mal’s efforts to not look like an idiot for the second time failed miserably because it turns out those blades were probably forged in hell. Oh, and Mal forgot about the toe picks, _again_ , and ended up slamming her hands and her knees on the ice.

 

Her body wasn’t as hurt as her pride. Not only she was unable to skate just because these _stupid_ skates had _stupid_ toe picks but also, that beautiful girl with the blue hair had just watched Mal fall on her face, twice, while looking like a _fucking baby deer_ learning how to walk. And it all happened before ten in the morning.

 

Yeah, digging a hole on the ground and hiding there for the rest of eternity would be a nice thing right now.

 

“ _Fuck_!”

 

Harry looked at Mal and this time didn’t laugh. She was red in the face and quite literally on the verge of tears. Tears of shame. Mal was frustrated and it had nothing to do with the bet because Harry knew her that well. If there was one thing Mal was used to, was to fall on the ice and ten times harder than that little fall. He looked behind his shoulder and found the source of Mal’s frustration skating towards them.

 

Mal’s eyes caught another pair of white skates stopping near her and she never wanted to disappear more than in that moment. That girl was not only beautiful enough to make her fall again, but she was also very clearly a figure skater.

 

‘ _Great, cool. Very smooth, Mal. What a great **ice breaker**_.’ The little voice inside Mal’s head taunted her senseless and her brain also decided it was a good time for bad jokes. Could this day turn out any worse?

 

“Hey, are you alright?”

 

Even her voice was beautiful. Raspy, yet sweet like honey. Mal was losing it.

 

Mal exhaled and looked up, to find the girl extending a hand to help her up. Another wave of shame filled her insides. She wanted to get up on her own and run away from there, but she couldn’t say no.

 

Mal took the girl’s hand and was surprised at the strength the girl had to pull her up. She then looped her arm around Mal’s, keeping her body still, despite her wobbly feet and her heart hammering furiously in her chest.

 

“I’m fine, thanks,” Mal muttered, noticing how the girl was still looking at her with genuine concern.

 

“Hello to ye too, princess,” Harry greeted faking an offended tone.

 

The girl turned to Harry.

 

“Hello Harry, aren’t you friend of the year?”

 

“I am a great friend, thank ye very much,” Harry protested. “Right, Mal?”

 

But Mal wasn’t paying attention to the boy. She was rather distracted by the girl who was holding her. How her touch was warm, even though they were in an ice rink, on a cold winter morning.

 

“… Mal?”

 

Mal blinked.

 

“Uh, yeah?”

 

“I was just telling Evie here how much of a great friend I am.” Harry said, giving Mal a knowing look.

 

Mal was about to say something when a third voice boomed on the rink, interrupting her.

 

“Harry! Get your royal ass over here!”

 

“Oh, that’s my cue. Bye Mal, we’ll discuss yer punishment for losing the bet after my practice.” Harry all but giggled and left, skating graciously to meet a younger boy on the other side of the rink.

 

Evie looked over to the purple haired girl and held a smile for her.

 

“So, Mal, eh?”

 

Mal’s eyes met Evie’s. Damn that was a pretty name.

 

“Uh, yeah. That’s me,” Mal answered nervously. Yes, Mal still wanted to die of embarrassment. “Evie, right?”

 

“Right,” Evie grinned and her smile was big and bright. “You really made a bet with that idiot?” Evie then giggled and Mal almost had a stroke because, _fuck_ , that was a beautiful sound.

 

“That idiot is my roommate and like I told Uma, in my defense, I wasn’t fully awake yet. My last two brain cells made a bet with that idiot.” Mal explained with a little smile. Evie’s presence was comforting and it was nice to see she wasn’t interested in mocking Mal.

 

Evie laughed at Mal’s remark. Mal now wanted to die for a whole new set of reasons.

 

“You’re his roommate? Are you the ice hockey player?”

 

Mal almost swallowed her tongue. This beautiful girl knew about her? What the fuck?

 

“I- I’m- Yes, I’m the one,” Mal blurted out. “He, uh, he talks about me?”

 

Evie led Mal to the edge of the rink, so Mal had where to hold on to. Mal couldn’t help but notice how graceful and regal Evie was on the ice, despite having basically all of Mal’s weight on her arm. She still had a straight and strong posture. Damn, that was actually impressive.

 

Mal was slightly disappointed about not having an excuse to cling on Evie’s arm anymore but grabbed the metal of the little door and hopped off the ice, free at last. She immediately took off the skates and slipped her combat boots back on. Evie watched her the entire time with the same curious eyes.

 

“No wonder you fell like that. Ice hockey skates and figure skates are very different,” Evie replied, ignoring Mal's question for some reason.

 

Mal felt even more ashamed of the situation she put herself in. Now she didn't want to tell Evie how that particular topic was how the bet was born. Because she didn't want Evie to think even less of her.

 

“The bet was about the skates, wasn't it?” Evie asked.

 

Mal felt her cheeks burning. Why didn’t she do what she always does? If she had told Harry to fuck off and went back to sleep, none of this would be happening.

 

“… Yeah,” Mal admitted with a sheepish look in her face. She wanted to tell Evie she wasn't as dumb as she looked but no words came out.

 

“Evie!”

 

The younger boy from before was calling for her.

 

“Coming, Carlos!” Evie replied. Then she looked back at Mal.

 

“I have to go. Will you stay and watch?” Evie asked with a smile, a rather expectant one.

 

Mal weighted down her options. She could call an Uber, go home and still snuggle in her bed for a few hours. Or she could stay.

 

For some reason she didn't feel like going home.

 

“I- uh- Harry's my ride, so..I guess I'm staying?” Mal replied rather dumbly.

 

Evie beamed at her.

 

“Good. Because I'm making sure you win that bet.” Evie said with a wink and then glided over to where Harry, Carlos and another two skaters were standing.

 

“Wait, what?” Mal called from where she stood but Evie just smiled again at her and turned to her friends.

 

Win the bet? What, the one Mal had already lost? Why would Evie care about Mal's dumb self and the stupid bet?

 

What even was this day?

 

_And could it be over anytime soon?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Y'all didn't ask but I'm here anyway with another multi chapter lmao
> 
> I'm actually very excited for this, so I hope it doesn't suck haha
> 
> Tell me what you think?
> 
> See you next chapter :) x
> 
> Also, come talk to me on Twitter (@swanjonhesonice) or Tumblr (@imharryaf) I promise I'm nice haha


	2. Tip of the Iceberg

Mal didn’t know much about figure skating, but she wasn’t an idiot. She could tell when someone knows what they’re doing. And those guys? They were _good_.

 

She had taken upon Evie’s clear offer to stay and watch their practice session, even though she passed on every offer Harry had extended her way. Mal parked herself on the bleachers and took in what was happening in front of her.

 

Carlos, the white haired, freckled young boy who demanded Harry and Evie’s attention was their coach. He seemed the youngest of the bunch but Mal could tell his understanding of the sport and of its technical elements was exquisite from the way he led his students. Harry always bragged about how his choreographer was a figure skating genius and Mal was starting to understand why.

 

“…Harry, your free foot needs to relax a little more. Your Triple Axel is coming out slightly underrotated because you’re not relaxed enough. Try it again.” Mal heard Carlos instruct.

 

Harry nodded and glided again to gain the necessary speed for another attempt at the jump. Then he swiftly lifted his foot off the ice and used it for a strong lift off, spinning so fast Mal could barely keep up, landing easily on one blade, his arms up, his leg extended behind him and a grin on his face.

 

It was incredible to say the least. Mal could barely stand with those skates and there Harry was, delivering high jumps with many rotations, like it was nothing.

 

“That’s my boy! Do it a couple more times and then we’ll go over the new routine,” Carlos praised, hi-fiving Harry.

 

“Gotcha!”

 

Harry was impressive, that was for sure. And the other two skaters were hardly any worse. But Mal’s attention kept shifting to Evie. She wasn’t doing any jumps, though. Evie was doing what Mal could recognize as the choreography part of any figure skating routine. Yes, she still didn’t know much about figure skating, but what she did know was thanks to Harry and him being like a brother to her for so many years.

 

There wasn’t any music playing but Evie moved as gracefully and as fluidly as if there was. The way she held herself on the ice was captivating in every sense of the word. Evie glided and moved her entire body with such a grace that if Mal had to describe it, she would say that the blue haired girl looked like a graceful swan skating. Evie owned the ice and Mal couldn’t possibly look away.

 

Then what Evie did next, made Mal gasp. She started skating faster and then, her right leg travelled to her front and the position looked like a lunge, her front leg bent and her back leg straight. Yet, the blades of her skates were travelling on a parallel line and Mal could tell that was a hard and probably uncomfortable position to be in. And then, Evie bended backwards, showing off just how flexible she was, throwing her arms dramatically to the side. She held that whole position for a few seconds before using the momentum to lift herself into a jump and Mal counted three rotations. Evie then landed, as easily as Harry, with her leg extended behind her and her chin held high, like the incredible figure skater she was.

 

Mal always heard Harry talk about this jump or that move as his eyes sparkled with wonder, and only today was she realizing just how mesmerizing it was to watch good figure skating elements. To watch Evie skating.

 

“Ok, people, take five!” Carlos’ voice boomed through the rink.

 

Mal watched as Evie gracefully skated to the wall to grab her water bottle. Perhaps being awake on this very moment didn’t suck so bad anymore.

 

“… That was an Ina Bauer.”

 

Mal was startled by a tall, golden-haired, brown eyed boy who was now looking at her with a welcoming smile.

 

“I, uh…” Mal didn’t know what to say. What was it? The position or the jump? Or was it both? Mal soon realized she didn’t care very much. They were both impressive.

 

The boy chuckled.

 

“That look you just had was of someone seeing something fascinating for the first time. I didn’t mean to pry, but it’s always nice to know people enjoy the sport,” He explained, taking a sip of his drink. Then he extended his hand and smiled. “I’m Ben,”

 

He seemed nice. Mal shook his hand and smiled back.

 

“I’m Mal,”

 

“… I see ye’ve met the prince, eh?”

 

Harry skated towards them and threw an arm around Ben, pinching his cheek. Both boys laughed stupidly at each other and Mal found herself raising an eyebrow for the second time that day.

 

“Yeah, he was telling me _all_ about the Ina Bauer,” Mal replied with a smirk.

 

“Oh, Evie loves that move,” Harry commented distractedly.

 

“I think Mal figured that one out already,” Ben said with a little smile. So, Ben definitely caught her staring at Evie and Mal still didn’t know what an Ina Bauer was. _Great. Amazing. Smooth_. _Cool_.

 

“Oh? Have ye really, Mal?” Harry raised his eyebrow at her and she replied the only way she knew how.

 

“ _Fuck you_.”

 

Ben laughed, which made Harry smile. Mal was definitely not seeing things, was she?

 

“Break’s over people, c’mon!” Carlos voice was heard again and both skaters left Mal to her thoughts. She caught Evie staring at her for a second before she turned to another girl. Mal still didn’t know why Evie was so interested in her, but she definitely wasn’t complaining.

 

Practice lasted for another thirty minutes until Carlos made sure everyone was off the ice, except for Harry.

 

“I’m going to simulate the whole thing. You ready?” Carlos asked.

 

Harry gave Carlos a thumbs up and skated to the other side of the rink. Then he waited.

 

Mal was pretty confused at this point but none of the skaters were close enough for her to ask any questions.

 

Carlos then grabbed a mic.

 

“… _And now, representing Scotland, Harry Hook!_ ” Carlos announced through the mic. Harry then glided all the way to the middle of the rink, greeting an invisible audience with a big smile and his arms held high. Then he came to a stop and adopted a pose.

 

Then, for the first time that day, music was heard. The music started soft and low but then started to sound more upbeat, more inviting and it definitely told a story, despite not having any lyrics. Given Harry’s love for anything pirate related, Mal wasn’t one bit surprised that the tune sounded like something out of a pirate centric movie with its fun crescendo, that suggested adventure, suspense and action, guaranteed to keep people on the edge of their seats. Mal had never seen Harry skate like that. Actually, Mal doesn’t remember seeing Harry this serious, ever.

 

Harry skated through the entire song with such intensity, went through jumps, complex spins and technical elements without missing a beat. His skating was one with the tune and no one in the world understood that piece of music like him. He finished the routine, stomping his skate on the ice as the last beat of the song was heard. Perfect timing, perfect ending.

 

Everyone started clapping and cheering and Mal just had to join in. She missed how Evie stole a glance at her and smiled. Harry was her stupid roommate but was also the closest thing she had to a brother. And in that moment, she saw him with new eyes. He greeted the invisible crowd with a graceful bow and joined Carlos who seemed to be giving him tips on how to improve. Mal wondered what in the world Carlos could possibly tell Harry to improve, because that shit was breathtaking.

 

And with that, everyone gathered around Carlos, who was now close enough for Mal to hear what they were saying.

 

“That’s it for today, folks! Harry, I’m loving this program more and more. You’re going to kill it at the Nationals,” Carlos started. Then he turned to Ben and the other skater Mal didn’t know. “With you two, I have some cool new ideas and I’d like to run them with you, before we start practicing with music. We still have time until the Grand Prix Series starts. Dismissed.”

 

As the skaters left the rink, Carlos turned around to greet Mal.

 

"Hi! I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner. I'm Carlos. You're here with Harry, I take?" He greeted with a welcoming smile.

 

"It's ok. My name's Mal and yeah, I'm here with him. He's my roommate." Mal replied, giving a smile of her own.

 

"I'm her amazing roommate!"

 

Harry quickly butted in, sitting down next to Mal with a cheerful smile. No one would say he had just finished a two-hour training session, including a full routine.

 

"I think you said ' _annoying_ ' wrong," Mal teased and that made Carlos laugh.

 

"So, you're also an idiot off the ice, I see." Carlos pointed out, an easy smile on his face.

 

As Harry faked a dramatic groan, Carlos looked at his watch.

 

"Well, I have to dash. Don’t forget we have an extra morning practice on Saturday. Nice meeting you, Mal."

 

"Likewise." Mal answered while Harry gave Carlos a nod.

 

Carlos left the rink with a wave and a smile. What a friendly boy that one.

 

"So, what did ye think? Didn't expect ye to stay," Harry then asked, curiosity coating his eyes.

 

"Oh, I was totally going to leave," Mal started but then she realized she wasn't so sure she wanted to tell Harry why she stayed, even though she was pretty sure he already had a clue. "But then I remembered that you're my ride, so yeah,"

 

Harry wasn't dumb, but he also knew better than to push Mal into the 'telling things without her being ready territory', so he didn't question her response.

 

"Did ye like my short program?" He asked. Mal looked at him and was surprised to see he was dead serious. He wanted a real answer.

 

"I don't know enough to comment on technical elements, but as far as I know, you were great out there, H," Mal answered with honesty. Harry beamed at her.

 

"I'm so glad! The nationals are in two weeks and I'm so pumped!" Harry replied.

 

"I thought you didn't need to go to that one, though?" Mal wondered.

 

"This year I do, because I didn't compete last year. Remember my knee?" Harry pointed out.

 

Mal did remember. Harry hurt his knee and had to back out for the entire competitive season. It was a rough year for him. Mal remembered how she sat down with him as he cried for hours the day he got injured. Maybe she should've cared more back then, now that she was seeing how excited he looked for the new season.

 

"Yeah. So, what's the plan this year?" Mal questioned with real interest.

 

"Well the main goal is the World Championship. For that, first I need to enter the nationals in Scotland, so I can apply to bigger international events. Then, me and Carlos have decided I'd enter the European Championship as my way into the Worlds. The goal is to win all of them. But I'm also, like, taking things slow, because it took me a year to fully recover and I wouldn't want to get hurt again," Harry explained and Mal listened very carefully.

 

"You're going to be great. I know it. And listen, if hockey doesn't get in the way... would you be cool with me tagging along for the Nationals?"

 

Mal saw how Harry's smile grew impossibly big. He pulled her for a hug.

 

"I'd really love that,"

 

Mal chuckled.

 

“Cool.”

 

Then Mal followed Harry out of the ice rink area and found Evie chatting with Uma.

 

“Still here, princess?” Harry called out to her. Evie looked over and saw the two friends. She smiled excitedly, clearly directed at Mal, who felt her cheeks burning as Harry also looked at her with curious eyes.

 

Evie waved Uma goodbye and came closer.

 

“Yes, I’m here to steal your roommate for a bit,” She announced with such confidence that Mal started to feel like dying of embarrassment again.

 

Harry’s lips curved into a slow and lazy smirk. Mal was so fucked.

 

“Well, she’s a wee dumbass so please be careful with her. Hold her hand when crossing the street and if she pouts, give her a strawberry milkshake. Oh, and have her home early.” Harry teased with giddy eyes and Mal, and her burning cheeks, thought that dropping dead right there would be ideal. There was no way she could avoid this very topic the minute she stepped inside the apartment she shared with Harry. She wanted to tell him off but after hearing Evie’s soft laughter she decided against it. If Evie found her very existence amusing, then by all means, Mal was going to let it happen.

 

“Well, I’m going to shower and think of yer punishment,” Harry announced with a grin and grabbed his bag.

 

“Don’t think too hard,” Evie advised with a sly grin. “Shall we, Mal?”

 

Mal was so inside her own head and thoughts she didn’t even realize she had been spoken to and only managed to nod a little too dumbly for her taste.

 

“What are ye—” Harry started but Evie shushed him right away.

 

“Hush. Mind your business, _darling_ ,” She said with a wink and grabbed Mal’s hand, walking back into the ice rink area. Mal missed how Harry smiled stupidly and walked over to the shower room whistling the tune of his short program.

 

Mal followed Evie and as soon as they were back on the rink, Mal felt the need to speak up.

 

“I promise I’m not as dumb as I look,” Mal blurted out and that only made Evie giggle amusedly.

 

“I never thought you were,” Evie replied, smiling softly.

 

Mal watched as Evie took off the guards of her skates and stepped into the ice. Mal leaned on the wall.

 

“What are you...” Mal trailed off, still confused as to why Evie wanted her attention so badly.

 

“Don’t you want to win the bet?” Evie asked, crossing her arms.

 

“I’m pretty sure I already lost it,” Mal chuckled sheepishly, shoving her hands inside her pockets.

 

Evie dropped a hand on Mal’s shoulder, more amused than ever and raised an eyebrow at her.

 

“I saw you earlier. I know you _want_ to be able to skate in those. Bet or no bet,”

 

Mal laughed nervously.

 

“So, you watched the whole thing, huh?”

 

“I guess I did,” Evie bit her lip with a little smile, like she was embarrassed about watching Mal, which she found all kind of cute.

 

Evie wasn’t wrong, though. Mal did want to be able to skate with figure skates. She just wasn’t so sure of why exactly, but that didn’t really matter right now.

 

“Ok, fine, let’s do this,” Mal said. She then took off her combat boots and slipped the white leather figure skates back on. She took the guards off and carefully placed one foot on the ice, perfectly secure by the wall. However, she wasn’t so confident this time around to place the other foot on the ice.

 

“Hey, I won’t let you fall. I promise,” Evie said, extending her arms, ready to catch Mal.

 

And Mal trusted. Without a second thought, she trusted and stepped on the ice. The exact same thing happened. Mal couldn’t control the skates and ended up right into Evie’s arms, their noses almost touching. For a second, they just stared at each other before Evie blinked and pushed Mal to a more upright position, never letting go of Mal’s arm while she did so.

 

“You good?” Evie asked.

 

Mal nodded, still startled by just how close to Evie she had just been. Perhaps Mal was a little (read: very) gay for Evie. Evie smiled at her, hoping to ease her nerves.

 

“Well, I don’t think you want to hear all the reasons why these skates are different from yours, so I’ll go straight to the point,” Evie started, her voice soft and confident. Mal nodded and focused on Evie’s pretty eyes. Evie seemed content with having Mal’s undivided attention and continued her explanation. “These skates have toe picks, so you’ll have to use the outer edge to move,”

 

Mal just looked down to her skates. That was going against everything she had learned about ice skating. She exhaled, preparing herself for eminent doom.

 

“Before you try,” Evie said, placing a hand gently on Mal’s back. Mal was sure she had truly forgotten how words work, because nothing came out of her mouth as that happened. “You need to forget your hockey stance. I’m going to help you stand straight. It keeps the weight away from the nasty toe picks, making it even and easier to stand. You fell before because you were all hunched forward,” Evie’s touch guided Mal’s back muscles to a more relaxed and upright position.

 

Mal was afraid of falling but her new stance actually helped her keep her balance. That and she was still clinging on Evie’s arm and on Evie’s hand, still placed on her back. She still had to put so much thought in every single one of her movements, but at least she wasn’t falling on her ass anymore. She tried pushing off the ice carefully and was surprised she didn’t lose her balance that she actually let out a little giggle. Evie easily followed Mal’s every move and beamed proudly at her.

 

“Much better,” Evie chuckled, excitement coating her eyes. “Want to try it on your own now?” She asked with an encouraging smile.

 

Mal felt her guts twisting at the thought of being a dumbass in front of Evie, again. No, she didn’t want to try it again, she would most likely fall.

 

“I, uh… Yeah?” She answered instead.

 

Evie nodded.

 

“Ok, I’m going to let go. Ready?”

 

Mal took a deep breath and waited. Evie slowly let go of Mal’s arm and her hand left Mal’s back. She stayed close to the girl nonetheless.

 

“Your strokes have to be smooth and long,” Evie advised.

 

Mal glided a bit with her dominant foot and managed to stay on her feet, even if the stroke had been wobbly. A little proud smile formed on her lips. She certainly had a distaste for how different the curve of the blades was when compared to her hockey skates, but she felt a little more confident now. She tried another glide, but midway she forgot about the toe pick. Luckily for her, Evie was there to prevent Mal from slamming her chin on the ice but she still felt like an idiot.

 

“You’re doing great, Mal,” Evie said with honesty.

 

Still, Mal groaned in frustration and Evie had to smile when she saw how the purple haired girl was pouting.

 

“Do you need a strawberry milkshake?” Evie teased, remembering Harry’s words.

 

“What? No! I’m _not_ pouting! I mean, no I don’t! Damn it, I’m going to kill Harry,” Mal blurted out, completely red in the face, more embarrassed than ever. Evie laughed in response. Like, really laughed. Perhaps Mal wanted to die, but suddenly she was willing to embarrass herself everyday just so she could hear Evie laugh like that.

 

“I’m kidding. C’mon, let’s move over to the wall.” Evie said with a giggle and Mal couldn’t help but smile back. Evie offered her hand and honestly, what was Mal going to do, say no?

 

So, the two girls, hand in hand glided over to the wall and Mal was happy to have something to lean on.

 

“Oh, listen,” Mal then said. Evie leaned on the wall, giving Mal her attention. “Can you give me Carlos’ number?”

 

Evie furrowed her brows.

 

“Sure. Can I ask why?”

 

“Turns out I might be going to Scotland with Harry to watch him skate at the Nationals if hockey doesn’t get in the way. I bet Carlos is the one who arranges like plane tickets and stuff,” Mal explained distractedly. She wasn’t really sure why she was asking Evie, when she could get it from Harry just as easily.

 

Evie smiled. Mal didn’t know this but Harry always talked about how badly he wanted for his roommate to watch him skate.

 

“He has this whole thing planned and he’s very excited about it,” Mal continued with a bit of a proud smile. “Hey, are _you_ going to the Nationals?” She asked with curiosity. If there was one thing Mal would love to see, that would be Evie skating at some type of important competition.

 

Mal didn’t think her question would make Evie frown, but that was what happened. Evie broke eye contact.

 

“I, uh… I don’t compete.” She said quietly, avoiding Mal’s green eyes.

 

_Wait, what?_

 

“… You don’t?” Mal was so surprised by this information. Someone as talented as this girl should be winning gold at the Olympics and nothing less.

 

“… No,” Was that a voice crack Mal heard? _Oh, no. No, no, no._

 

“Oh, I—”

 

“You know what? It’s getting pretty late, we should call it a day,” Evie then said, hopping off the ice and fishing out her phone.

 

“What? But it’s still morning?” Mal dumbly replied. She started freaking out internally.

 

“Harry has Carlos’ number.” She quickly added, taking off her skates and slipping in her boots.

 

“But Evie—”

 

“See you around, Mal.”

 

“Evie, wait!”

 

But Mal was still on the ice and could never catch up to Evie, who quickly grabbed her stuff and skipped out of the rink. She just stayed there, staring dumbly at the door. What had just happened? Did Mal hit a nerve? Or had Evie finally realized how much of a dumbass Mal was and found an excuse to leave? Was it both?

 

“…. _Fan-fucking-tastic_.” Mal cursed under her breath, while clumsily hopping off the ice and kicking the skates away from her. With her combat boots back on, she grabbed her bag, returned the skates to Uma and exited the rink.

 

It was cold outside and her ride was already gone. It wasn’t Harry’s fault, though. He assumed Evie would give her a ride back home, but she sure was fast at leaving.

 

Mal sighted, defeated, and called an Uber.

 

 

//

 

 

Harry was parked on his bed with a plate full of rice and chicken next to him when he heard the click of the door opening. He got up and found Mal lying on her belly with her face buried in her pillow.

 

“Mal? Are ye ok?” Harry asked, a bit of concern was heard in his voice.

 

“I never want to leave this bed again. I want to become one with it,” Mal’s muffled response worried Harry. He walked over and sat on her bed.

 

“C’mon now, Mal. Off with the pillow,” He said softly, taking the pillow away from Mal’s face. She was pouting. “What happened, lass?”

 

“Honestly? I wish I knew,” Mal replied with a sight. She sat up and crossed her legs. “I didn’t mean any harm Harry, I swear. I feel like a bitch—”

 

“Hey, hey, slow down! Tell me what happened,” Harry cut her off, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

 

“My dumbass just asked for Carlos’ number, god knows why, because I could obviously ask you, because I really want to go to Scotland to see you skate—”

 

“And ye asked Evie if she was competing?” Harry took an educated guess.

 

Mal stopped her rambling to look at Harry like he grew another head.

 

“How did you know?”

 

Harry gave Mal a sad smile.

 

“Because… let’s just say that talking to Evie about competing is off-limits,” Harry explained.

 

“Why?” Mal wanted to know.

 

“I love ye Mal, but it’s not my place to tell,” Harry replied.

 

Mal sighted. She figured as much. Harry was her roommate and overall best friend but he would never betray Evie’s trust. He was a great boy and a great friend.

 

“I’m so stupid. What if she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore? I think I might be kind of in love with her already and I managed to fuck it up—"

 

“Stop that. Ye didn’t know,” Harry scolded her. Then his face lit up, like a little kid seeing candy for the first time. “What’s that about liking Evie?”

 

Mal groaned but a little smile crossed her lips.

 

“Yeah, she’s just… wow,” Mal replied.

 

Harry could only agree. Seeing Mal so dazzled made his heart happy. It had been a while since she had been so full of life.

 

“It’s going to be fine,” Harry reassured her, placing a kiss on her temple. Harry playing the big bro role would always make Mal feel so loved.

 

“Just answer me this one question: Was she a competitor before?” Mal asked, in hopes she’d have at least the satisfaction of knowing Evie had been winning medals before.

 

“… Ay. Ay, she was,” Harry replied. “But please, _let it go_ , ok? She’ll tell ye, when the time’s right.”

 

“… Ok. One more question: _What the fuck is an Ina Bauer_?”

 

Harry burst out laughing and went deep into what the move was and why it was called that way. For the first time, Mal listened and hung on to every word.

 

But Mal _did not let it go_.

 

No, Evie was all Mal could think about as she lied awake that night, staring at the blank ceiling.

 

So, Evie had competed before. She was probably the best out there. Mal was sure of it.

 

Mal wondered if there was any way for her to make it up to Evie for crossing a line. Wondered what could possibly break Evie enough for her to quit her competitive career. And wondered if her early reaction had been just **the tip of the iceberg**.

 

She decided she would keep wondering, because being the cause of Evie’s frown had been the single worst thing Mal had ever experienced, and she woke up at six-thirty that morning, so that was saying a lot.

 

 _‘Fuck, I should never have left my bed without a cup of coffee.’,_ Mal scolded herself as she felt sleep taking over her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Chapter 2 of this thingy!!! I was so happy to see all of the nice responses! I hope this turns out to be as fun to you as it has been for me! Have fun and let me hear your thoughts?
> 
> (Also the song I had in mind when Harry was skating is called "Escaping the Kraken" by Peter Crowley, if you're interested).
> 
> See you next chapter :) x


	3. On Thin Ice

Yelling.

 

Yelling was what Mal and Harry were greeted with the next morning at the ice rink.

 

Mal couldn’t quite believe she was up so early in the morning, _again_ , but she did lose the bet and agreed to go and watch every figure skating practice until Harry’s Nationals in Edinburg were over, so there she was, with the tallest cup of coffee Starbucks could offer on her hand. Honestly, she thought of herself as braver than any US marine for being up at those hours, because no human should ever have to suffer like that.

 

“What is all the shouting about?” Harry asked Uma, who was distractedly reading a magazine.

 

“How should I know?” She shrugged. Mal scoffed, amusedly.

 

“Ye _work_ here ye moron,” Harry replied with a chuckle. “Yer supposed to keep these things from happening,”

 

“It’s not my fault,” Uma retaliated. “Your coach reserved the rink for today, but there’s an idiot in there arguing with him and I’m so not stopping them,”

 

“Aren’t ye employee of the year?” Harry giggled and got a wink in return.

 

“Oh my god,”

 

Harry and Uma turned to Mal.

 

“What is it?” Harry asked.

 

Mal shook her head in amusement. “Don’t worry your pretty little heads, I got this,” She said while walking towards the rink. Harry figured it was better to follow her.

 

Mal entered the rink area with Harry on her tail and soon they spotted Carlos arguing with a bulked up, long-haired boy much taller than him all geared up with his helmet and his ice hockey stick. As they got closer, they could understand what was being said.

 

“ _Dude, I got here first, suck it up!_ ”

 

“ _Do you even speak English? I booked the rink for this entire morning, so you suck it up muscle brain!_ ”

 

Mal stood at the edge of the ice. Harry watched curiously.

 

“Hey Jay!” Mall yelled and the long-haired boy’s head turned at the sound of his name. He skated towards Mal. Carlos soon followed.

 

“Mal? What the hell are you doing here?” Jay wanted to know.

 

“I could ask you the same thing,” Mal grins and crosses her arms.

 

“I was trying to practice, like I do _every_ Saturday morning,” Jay bitterly explained giving a nasty look to the white-haired boy. Carlos was about to protest but Mal didn’t let him.

 

“Jay, you have to book the rink if you want to use it on the free hours,”

 

“But—”

 

Jay also wanted to protest but Mal just gave him a look that told him that it was useless to argue. He looked between Mal and the white-haired boy who was trying his very best not to yell ‘ _suck it up!_ ’ in his face. The two boys glared furiously at each other.

 

“Fine,” Jay caved with gritted teeth and without another word he hopped off the ice and left, cursing under his breath.

 

“What a jerk,” Carlos protested. He was livid. “Stupid jock with his stupid ice hockey stick. I should shove that stick right up his—”

 

“Hey, not cool dude,” Mal interrupted, crossing her arms.

 

Carlos stopped talking and realized exactly how poorly he was behaving. His cheeks went a bit red due to embarrassment.

 

“Sorry Mal,” He apologized. “I didn’t mean to sound judgmental over ice hockey players,”

 

“It’s ok,” Mal reassured him. Carlos gave her a nervous smile.

 

“Is he a friend of yours?”

 

“Yeah,” She nodded. “Look, don’t be too hard on him. I know he was wrong right now, I know he can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but Jay is a great guy. There’s a lot of competition on the men’s team, so Jay works extra hard to keep his spot on the team and that’s why he comes to practice on his own on Saturday mornings. No one is ever here at this time, so he never bothers with booking,” Mal then explained with a shrug.

 

Carlos didn’t say anything and Mal couldn’t read him.

 

“Maybe we should start practice? The others must be arriving soon,” Harry then intervened. Carlos sighted.

 

“Yeah, you’re right, let’s go,” He agreed. Then Harry took off the guards from his skates and stepped on the ice, following Carlos to the middle of the rink, leaving Mal to herself. Harry was right, because soon after, Ben and the other skater arrived.

 

“Hey, Mal,” Ben greeted happily.

 

“Hi, Ben,” Mal greeted back.

 

“I don’t think we really met the other day? My name’s Audrey,” The girl said with a smile and extended her hand for Mal to shake.

 

“Mal,” She replied, shaking Audrey’s hand. “We didn’t, I was too busy making a fool out of myself,” Mal joked and got a chuckle out of Audrey. Before Mal could ask the obvious ‘ _Are you guys together?_ ’ question, Ben spoke up, almost like he knew it was coming.

 

“Oh, we’re not together or anything. Audrey is my longtime skating partner,” Ben explained excitedly. “We’re ice dancers,” He added, holding Audrey’s hand proudly. She giggled.

 

“Ah, aren’t you a real prince charming?” Mal teased with a smirk and all three of them ended up laughing. ‘ _They’re alright_ ,’ Mal thought.

 

The moment didn’t last any longer because there was a voice behind them demanding their attention or more specifically, Mal’s attention.

 

“…Can we talk?”

 

Mal was greeted with a shy voice and immediately turned around to meet Evie’s brown eyes. Evie eyed the duo for a split second.

 

“We’ll be going now, nice meeting you, Mal,” Audrey announced, not giving Mal any time to understand that look, and gave her one last smile before pulling Ben, who also gave her one last grin, to the ice, leaving Mal and Evie alone.

 

There was a beat. And then:

 

“I’m sorry about the other day—”

 

“I’m so sorry for leaving you alone at the rink—”

 

The girls started talking at the exact same time and Evie ended up chuckling nervously. Mal was already sweating because damn that was a beautiful sound. Mal was sure she was talking to an angel.

 

“You first,” Mal said, shoving her hands inside her jean pockets, not really knowing what else to do with them.

 

Evie nodded and took a deep breath.

 

“I’m sorry I bolted the other day after being the one who asked you to stay. That was rude and stupid of me to do,” Evie spoke a little too fast for her liking but Mal didn’t seem to mind.

 

“I’m sorry too, for crossing a line,” Mal replied with an apology of her own and was met with a gentle and reassuring smile. That was a good word to describe Evie: gentle. Mal couldn’t help but stare at the girl in front of her. Mal was so focused on the girl’s bone structure (Mal swore and wished it could slice her in half) that she didn’t realize she had been spoken to.

 

“Mal?”

 

Mal blinked twice.

 

“Uh, yeah?”

 

“I was hoping to make it up to you, somehow?” Evie repeated herself, quietly.

 

Mal watched how Evie was slightly frowning, probably thinking Mal didn’t want to be with her again, because her dumb self was too focused on pinning.

 

“If you don’t want to, that’s totally ok—”

 

Mal took a step forward.

 

“I’d love to,” She blurted out, a little louder than she intended, interrupting Evie mid-sentence. Evie looked right into Mal’s green eyes with a curious expression. “I’d love to hang out with you, I mean,” Mal then explained and she felt the heat on her cheeks because she totally sounded desperate and Evie probably thought she was a complete moron.

 

But Evie beamed at her, happy that Mal had said yes and Mal was about to pass out because Evie’s smile easily out-shined the sun. What a wonderful sight, that one.

 

“Can I tempt you with a strawberry milkshake, then?” Evie then asked, chuckling lightly and Mal realized she did that because she was nervous. “I know a place,” She added.

 

“I’d like that,” Mal grinned. Her love for anything strawberry was just an added bonus to this whole thing and perhaps Harry mentioning said love wasn’t so bad after all. “Is tomorrow night ok for you, though? I have practice today and I promised that weirdo over there that I’d come to every practice until the Nationals because I lost the bet,”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Evie nodded in agreement. “Give me your phone,”

 

“ _Huh?_ ”

 

Evie smiled amusedly. “So I can text you the address you dork,”

 

_‘Yeah, of course, the address you dork, cool, cool, cool’._

 

Mal fished out her phone, unlocked it and handed it to her while recovering from the fact that Evie had called her a ‘ _dork_ ’ and basically found a very good excuse to give Mal her phone number. Evie typed it in and handed the phone back to Mal who was trying to get her ability to speak back.

 

“I have to go. See you after?” Evie asked.

 

“Yeah,” Mal replied with a smile and Evie happily returned the gesture. Mal’s heart did a back flip when she saw the slight flush on Evie’s cheeks before she turned around and joined Harry and Carlos. Mal couldn’t help but to think she had just been asked out on a date by the prettiest girl alive so maybe everything was right in the world after all.

 

 

//

 

 

Mal loved ice hockey, she truly did. But she hated playing defense. And since her coach decided to actively hate her that same afternoon, playing on defense was what Mal had been doing for the last two hours, drill after drill. Not only she hated every second of it but also, she wasn’t very good at it. And that’s how Mal found herself on the floor for what it seemed the hundredth time that day. She groaned at the thought of all the unnecessary bruises that were surely going to show up later. The only good thing was that she was back to wearing a pair of skates that she felt comfortable in.

 

“Bertha! Get yer arse over here!”

 

Mal looked over to her coach, a Scottish red-haired woman named Merida, got up and skated towards her. Because apparently the universe thought that it wasn’t enough for Mal to be roommates with a Scottish college kid. No, she had to have two annoying Scottish people in her life.

 

“What the hell is going on with ye?” Merida asked with her hands on her hips.

 

“I don’t play defense,” Mal grumbled, massaging her shoulder, which was what hurt the most in that specific moment.

 

Merida sighted and looked at the time.

 

“Alright lasses, that’s it for today!” She called and the team stopped the current drill. All the girls sat down on the benches, chatting happily and drinking water. Merida signaled for Mal to join them.

 

“You ok, Mal?” Her teammate Lonnie asked as soon as she sat down. “You seemed pretty off today,”

 

“I’m fine,” Mal shrugged. Lonnie was about to say something but Merida shushed them.

 

“Ok, so we have two games until the nationals and as ye know, we’re not going there to lose,” Merida started and Mal had a hunch this speech wasn’t going to end well for her. “So, I only ask for all of ye to keep up the good work.” The team cheered and took that as cue to leave for the day.

 

“Oh, one last thing,” Merida called to them. “Lonnie, I want ye as team captain for the next game. Bertha, yer benched. Dismissed,”

 

Lonnie looked both ecstatic and horrified by that request, that wasn’t really a request at all so, she replied the only way she could.

 

“Yes, coach,” And just like that, Lonnie bolted to the locker room to join her teammates, probably aware that Mal would not be reacting well to what she just heard.

 

Was it possible for someone’s blood to run cold and boil at the same time? Because that’s how Mal felt. So, she just stood there, shocked that the spot, _her spot_ had just been taken away from her.

 

“Bertha, a word,” Merida then said. “Sit,”

 

But Mal didn’t sit down. Instead she slammed her helmet on the ice and her hockey stick was next.

 

“You can’t do this to me!” Mal yelled. “ _I’m_ team captain!”

 

“Yer going to calm down right now, lass,” Merida’s harsh tone snapped Mal from her current enraged state and she sunk into the bench, her lips partially open in shock. “I _can_ in fact bench ye, I just _did_ ,”

 

“No, no, no, you don’t get it. Coach, you can’t bench me! I have to play the next two games or I won’t be eligible for the Nationals. If that happens not only I won’t be scouted but I’ll lose my scholarship for not showing results! Without the scholarship I won’t be able to attend daily practices and I’ll end up losing my spot on the team! Might as well bench me until I retire!” Mal protested, rather desperate. “I haven’t missed a single practice and I’m your top goal-scorer!”

 

“Ay, yer right and yer all that,” Merida agreed. “But yer failing _everything_ else, lass. Yer not playing with yer team, yer taking risks that have costed us a few games and ye refuse to listen to yer coach or yer teammates. Yer not being a leader at all,” She continued and Mal started to feel really small. “Also, I think ye can play in any position, if ye put yer mind to it. Yer the best player we have but if yer head is not in the right place, I have no choice but to bench ye,”

 

“But—”

 

“No but’s Bertha. I can’t give ye any more free passes, it’s not fair to the other lasses,” Merida cut her off. “If ye want yer spot back as team captain yer going to have to earn it. And if ye want to play the next game, ye have to show me yer up to the task. Got it?”

 

Mal wanted to protest, she wanted to protest until her voice stopped working. But Merida was right and it would be immature and selfish of Mal to not admit it. The hard truth was that Mal didn’t know anymore if she loved ice hockey or if she only loved her way of playing ice hockey. And she could see how her selfish way of playing the sport was damaging the team. Also, the fact that Evie kept popping on her mind, wasn’t helping her focus, at all.

 

“Yes, coach,” She then replied quietly, defeated.

 

Merida dropped a hand on Mal’s shoulder and to the girl’s surprise, she was smiling.

 

“I believe in ye, lass. Ye got this, ay?”

 

Mal nodded and Merida then left the rink. Mal didn’t feel like going to the locker room right now, so she stayed put and waited for everyone else to leave. She didn’t want to face the team she had failed. After she heard voices, she knew everyone was gone for the day so she rushed to the locker room, taking a quick shower and then walking home.

 

But, of course, the universe loved to stand against her and like it knew she was feeling ashamed, rain started to pour on an already cold winter day. Not that Mal hated the rain, but she didn’t need any more reminders of how her life was currently a mess. Alas, it was what she deserved. To walk alone in the rain. So, walk in the rain she did.

 

 

//

 

 

“C’mon Mal, it will cheer ye up!” Harry insisted.

 

Of course, Harry tried his very best to cheer Mal up after she got home, wet to the bone and with the biggest pout he had ever seen on her. She took a shower and snuggled on the couch with her oversized hoodie on and a mug filled with coffee.

 

“Harry, I know I promised you but I don’t feel like getting up at those ungodly hours again tomorrow,” Mal whined. She couldn’t blame the boy for worrying, though.

 

Harry sat down next to her and threw a blanket over her body, knowing she was still cold and straight up ignored the fact that there was another reason why Mal didn’t feel like going with him to the rink the next day, it being not wanting to run into her teammates for some reason.

 

“But I wanted to show ye my free program,” He insisted giving Mal the best lost puppy look he could. Mal kept staring at the tv while pouting, not really paying attention to what was on. Harry knew better than to push any further because that’s not how it worked with Mal. So, he settled for simply wrapping his arms around her in a comforting way and they stayed there for a while.

 

And Mal, who was already feeling guilty about letting down the hockey team, decided she was being stupid and that she wasn’t going to let Harry down.

 

“Fine,” She said.

 

“What?”

 

“I’ll go with you tomorrow,”

 

Harry’s eyes sparkled.

 

“Yer the best, Mal,” He said. Then he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Yer going to get yer spot back, I know it.”

 

“I hope so,” Mal glumly added. “But hey, at least I have a date with Evie tomorrow,”

 

“Ye have a _what_ with _who_ now?” Harry literally shrieked and gave Mal the dorkiest smile he could find. Mal giggled at his boyish excitement.

 

“I mean, we didn’t call it that. But I want it to be a date,” Mal explained, blushing a bit. “She wanted to make it up to me for leaving the rink the other day and she even gave me her number,” She couldn’t help but smile stupidly at the whole situation and Harry could barely hold it together.

 

“That’s amazing, Mal! See, I told ye everything would be fine.” He hugged her really tight and Mal could only smile, because of how lucky she was to have a friend who cared so deeply. That same friend who an hour later of watching tv, was fast asleep on the couch, leaving Mal with one thought: Evie.

 

Evie, who she had made plans with tomorrow night. Evie who haunted her thoughts for various reasons, including the fact that she had been a competitor and had given up on it. Harry asked Mal to let the matter drop, but Mal was stubborn (and in all honesty, curious), so she found herself on her bed with her laptop in front of her and typing the words ‘ _Evie Grimhilde figure skating’_ on the YouTube search bar before she could stop herself.

 

Mal found innumerous videos of Evie’s competitive era and decided for one of her skating at one of the Grand Prix Series events, Skate Canada. She grabbed her headphones, not wanting to wake up Harry or to explain why she was sitting down watching Evie on the internet and clicked play. She easily recognized the competitive atmosphere: the ice rink full of people cheering and soft music on the background while nothing was happening.

 

Then she could hear the announcement, just like Carlos had done the other day: “ _On the ice, representing the United States of America, Evie Grimhilde!_ ”

 

And then, there Evie was, greeting the audience with a grin from ear to ear, which was honestly intoxicating, in a good way. She had her hair in a tight bun and was wearing a black outfit with splashes of red. Mal was almost drooling with how hot that girl was.

 

“Wow…” She whispered to herself. “God Evie, just kick my ass already,”

 

And then Mal watched Evie skate and it was something completely out of this world. Mal realized that the beauty she saw on her the other day was _nothing_ compared to Evie Grimhilde skating competitively. Evie skated to the beautiful soft rock track that was ‘ _Woman_ ’ by Harry Styles, that was distinctive for delivering a retro 70s vibe, even though it still belonged to the present, that Mal honestly was enjoying very much but the track choice wasn’t even the best part of it. The best part was to see Evie skating with such fire, with such a deep-rooted passion for what she was doing. It was clear that she was feeling the song and no one in the world could interpret that music better than her. It was enchanting to see her go through jumps, spins and step sequences without missing a beat. It came so easy for her, maybe even easier than it came for Harry.

 

The routine was over sooner than Mal wanted it to. She saw how Evie sat on what Harry always called the ‘ _Kiss and Cry’_ , blowing kisses to the camera and smiling at Carlos that sat next to her as they waited for the scores. Mal didn’t need to see it to know Evie came home that day with a gold medal.

 

A couple of hours and countless other videos later, Mal was fast asleep with the laptop on her lap, still. And she fell asleep wondering what could possibly break someone as talented and as beautiful as Evie enough for her to quit competitive figure skating, to lose her fire and to avoid the topic like the plague.

 

Maybe they were more alike than Mal thought. Because somehow, they were both walking _on thin ice_. Maybe for completely different reasons, but they were.

 

So, Mal couldn’t wait for her _date_ and because of that, she also fell asleep with the biggest smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hello, yes I know it took me AGES but I'm here and I bring an update as a peace offering sfjshdjkfhsjdk (college was suffocating me but I pulled through)
> 
> I promise things will become more intense from this point on, next chapter we have the malvie "date" and a couple more things happening. Until then, I hope you enjoy this one and I promise you'll hear from me soon.
> 
> See you next chapter :) x


	4. Ice and Forth

“Mal, yer goin’ to be late,” Harry promptly warned his roommate for what it felt the tenth time in the last five minutes. He looked at her. Mal was pacing around the room, mumbling to herself. Harry got up and stopped her on her tracks, placing both his hands on her shoulders.

 

“Mal, yer not leaving for yer wedding, it’s just a date,” Harry joked trying to lighten the mood.

 

“What if I screw it up again? What if she doesn’t like me that way? Maybe I shouldn’t go,” Mal spoke way too fast and Harry just smiled. He hasn’t seen Mal this nervous…well, ever. Not even before big hockey games.

 

“It’s going to be fine,” Harry chuckled. “Just go already,”

 

Mal stared at her reflex on the mirror, analyzing how her combat boots, her black ripped jeans, the purple hoodie and the purple leather jacket hugged her tiny figure. Harry smiled softly.

 

“Ye look great, Mal, don’t worry,”

 

Mal sighted a little relieved and turned around to face him.

 

“Ok, I’m doing this. I’m going now,”

 

Harry grinned and pushed her to the door.

 

“Yeah ye are. Have fun, lassie,” He chirped, basically kicking her out of the apartment and closing the door in her face.

 

Mal stared at it before she chuckled and hopped in her car, praying to every god that she could find the place without being late.

 

 

//

 

 

Turns out the coffee shop was rather easy to find and wasn’t exactly far from home, or the ice rink for that matter. It was adorably placed in between. Mal parked her car and walked over to the entrance. There was no sign of Evie, nor inside or outside and for a brief second, Mal panicked, worried she was at the wrong place. But the big sign outside, announcing all the different types of milkshakes and smoothies they offered calmed her nerves. She was definitely at the right place and Evie was fashionably late. Unsure if she should walk in and wait for Evie there, Mal decided to just hang outside.

 

Five minutes later, Evie showed up. Mal’s jaw dropped at the sight of the blue haired beauty. Not that Mal hadn’t already established that Evie was drop dead gorgeous and that her little bisexual heart exploded at the sight of her but she had never seen Evie with casual clothes. Evie was wearing a black pair of Nike sneakers, high waisted jeans, a white top, a cute little scarf and, to Mal’s surprise, a blue leather jacket with a big crown stamped on the back. Her blue hair was cascading down her shoulders, instead of the ponytail she wore for practice, and it was all wavy and slightly curly on the ends. It was absolutely beautiful.

 

Evie held herself as gracefully off the ice as she did on it and maybe Mal was sweating all over. The girl beamed at Mal and came to a stop. Mal grinned stupidly. Fuck, she was so gay.

 

“Hi,” She greeted. “Sorry to keep you waiting,”

 

“Hello, hi! It’s fine, totally fine. Perfectly fine. Fine, fine, fine,” Mal immediately reacted, stuttering, still completely dazzled by the girl in front of her. Evie found her reaction absolutely adorable and noticed how her cheeks were flushed. An endeared smile blessed her features.

 

“Shall we?” Evie asked.

 

Mal blinked. That’s right, they were supposed to go inside the coffee shop.

 

“Uh, yeah. We shall,”

 

Evie smiled and walked past Mal opening the door to walk inside. But Mal was still paralyzed by her beauty and by her perfume that she could now smell.

 

“…Mal?”

 

Mal shook her head. Evie was standing at the entrance, holding the door with a curious and amused little smile.

 

_‘Oh my god, I thought I was following her. Get a fucking grip, Mal Bertha!’_

Mal’s body finally moved and she walked towards Evie with a shy smile. The girls entered the coffee shop and sat down on a table next to the window, across from each other. A waiter soon walked over to take their order.

 

“A strawberry milkshake for me, please,” Mal politely requested. Good, she could form coherent sentences again.

 

“I’ll have the blueberry one, please,” Evie ordered with her usual smile. Mal smiled at her choice. She wasn’t sure why, she just found it so fitting and so adorable.

 

The waiter wrote down their order and soon enough the milkshakes were on front of them. Mal took a long sip of hers and practically moaned. It was delicious. Then she immediately blushed, embarrassed at the sound she just made in front of the pretty girl who stared at her with a soft smile on her face. Unlike Mal, she didn’t seem nervous.

 

“I told you they were good,” Evie said taking a sip of her own drink.

 

Mal nodded and stared at the milkshake like a little toddler tasting ice-cream for the first time. She then looked up.

 

“So, you come here a lot?” Mal asked and she hated herself for making small talk. She wanted to talk to Evie about a dozen other things.

 

Evie nodded happily.

 

“They’re the best around and it’s close to the rink,” She replied.

 

Mal took another sip of her strawberry drink and then something came to her mind.

 

“Did you know who I was? I mean, you immediately knew I was an ice hockey player when I said I was Harry’s roommate,”

 

Evie chuckled softly.

 

“Harry gushes a lot about his roommate and how great of an ice hockey player you are. But I didn’t know it was you when I walked in,”

 

Mal almost frowned at that, disappointed. Evie easily read her expression and smiled at her.

 

“I mean, I didn’t know your name. Or that you were a beautiful girl,”

 

Mal blushed so hard it reached her ears.

 

‘ _Fuck, fuck, fuck.’_

 

‘ _She thinks I’m beautiful. Cool, she wants me dead on this fine Sunday.’_

“T-Thank you,” Mal replied dumbly, suddenly feeling really shy, shook to her core. This absolute goddess thinks she’s beautiful. “But have you seen yourself?” Mal added with a smile and seeing how Evie’s eyes shone and how her cheeks became a lovely shade of pink finally allowed Mal to just relax. Not that she wasn’t gay shrieking internally because a shy and blushing Evie was beyond adorable and it had been her to make it happen but at least she wasn’t stuttering anymore.

 

“Harry said you’re the team captain,” Evie added with a smile that was mostly a proud grin.

 

Mal realized that talking about ice hockey wasn’t her most clever idea. Evie thought she was this kickass player, the trustworthy team captain when in fact, she was benched and in risk of losing it all. She had no idea that her worry was so palpable until she realized Evie was slightly frowning at her.

 

“Are you ok?” The beautiful girl asked, concern coating her warm brown eyes.

 

Mal shook her head to snap out of it.

 

“Yeah. I just had a rough couple of days,” She replied, not wanting to lie to Evie but also not wanting to really get into it right now. This was supposed to be fun for the both of them.

 

“Mal, I’m so sorry about that,” Evie said and not being able to control her urge to comfort the girl, she placed her hand on top of Mal’s. Then she gave it a comforting squeeze and Mal was sure she was straight up flatlining. Evie’s touch was warm and that beautiful warmth easily spread through Mal’s whole body. It was electrifying and addicting. They just stared a each other, maybe for a beat too long and maybe a little lost in each other’s eyes. Until Mal blinked and Evie realized their hands were still touching. She gently took off hers and used it to hold the straw of her milkshake while Mal was left wanting more. Suddenly she wanted to hold Evie’s hand, lace their fingers together and do all of those corny things with her.

 

Mal smiled reassuringly at the girl who still seemed worried.

 

“It’s ok, really,”

 

Evie seemed to relax at that and then the human connection became easier and the two girls became more comfortable with each other, the conversation flowing more naturally as they tackled several topics. Evie told Mal was majoring in fashion and design and that she would love to start off with a good internship and was practically bouncing in her seat when, in response, Mal mentioned she could draw and that she was majoring in arts.

 

“Would you take a look at my sketches and tell me what you think? Would you let me see some of your work?” Evie excitedly asked, a glint in her eyes that Mal was enjoying very much.

 

“I’d love to see your sketches,” Mal grinned. “And I have a bunch of sketch books filled with doodles and other works that I didn’t actually have to turn in for college. I can lend them to you, if you want,”

 

Evie squealed at that and Mal had a mini stroke with how cute that was. Mal could tell she was passionate about this. Evie didn’t know that Mal recognized that look. It was the look she had whenever she was on the ice, competing. But Mal had made the decision to keep any figure skating topic off this entire date, unless Evie brought it up herself, and she was definitely not telling the girl she was up until three in the morning watching videos of Evie’s very successful and very amazing competitive career.

 

However, figure skating didn’t feel like being left out of the conversation, as Evie’s phone buzzed and Carlos’ picture showed on the screen. Evie looked at it and Mal could see her debating with herself. She knew it could be important but she didn’t want to take the call right now that she was with Mal. Mal gently pointed at the phone.

 

“Take the call. It could be important,”

 

Evie looked slightly panicked.

 

“Are you sure you don’t mind? I can call him back later,”

 

Mal smiled, trying to reassure the girl.

 

“I’m sure,” She chuckles.

 

Evie saw the honesty in Mal’s eyes and her easy and dashing smile to match and nodded, picking up her phone and taking the call.

 

“Hey, C,” She greeted the boy on the other side of the line. There was a beat and Evie then frowned. “Have you spoken to Harry?”

 

Mal knew Harry was in class right now, so whatever it was that Carlos needed, he couldn’t count on Harry.

 

Evie sighted sadly. “Ok. Bye,” She hung up and she looked so sad as she placed the phone back on the table.

 

“Carlos needs me on the rink as soon as possible, he said it was important,” Evie explained with a frustrated huff.

 

Mal took the tall glass where her milkshake once was out of the way and it was her turn to place a hand on Evie’s. It was like magic and Mal was delighted that she had a chance of doing it again.

 

“Hey, if it’s important, you need to go to him,”

 

“But I’m here with you and I was the one to ask you here, I’m supposed to be making it up to you, god I didn’t even bring my car or my gear—”

 

“Evie,” Mal cut her off with a soft chuckle and a smile to match. “Breathe. It’s alright, I’ll drive you home to get your gear and then I’ll drop you off at the rink,”

 

Evie looked at Mal, almost in disbelief that she’d go through all that trouble. Mal chuckled again.

 

“I know what you’re thinking and really, I don’t mind. If it makes you feel any better, we can always do this again. I’ll say yes,”

 

That got Evie to smile again and she nodded shyly. The blue haired girl then insisted on paying for both of them and off they went. After a couple minutes of Evie giving Mal directions, they stopped next to the building where Evie lived and she made a run for it, getting her gear and coming back to Mal’s passenger seat. Then Mal easily drove and pulled over right in front of the ice rink.

 

“Mal, I can’t thank you enough. I’m really sorry our evening was cut short,” Evie said while grabbing her stuff.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Mal waves her off with a smile. “Call me later?”

 

“Will do,” Evie easily agrees. Then she stares at Mal for a bit, before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

 

Mal felt like she was combusting. Literally, her insides were on fire. She’s sure she’s completely red in the face and looks over to Evie, who’s giving her a smile.

 

She then giggled at Mal’s current state and that _fucking giggle_ …Mal is sure that’s how souls are greeted in heaven.

 

“Dork,” Evie then snorts and gets out of the car. With one last smile she flips her hair and walks inside the rink, away from Mal’s sight.

 

Mal let out a delighted sight, trying to recover from all that happened. My _god_ , Evie was perfect.

 

“She fucking kissed me…Like on the cheek but still…” Mal said out loud to no one but herself, as she drove away with the goofiest smile on her face.

 

 

 

//

 

 

As Mal parked her car, already back to hers and Harry’s apartment, she couldn’t help but to think of Evie. Evie and her gorgeous everything. Harry had been right. The date was a success and Mal had been way too nervous, before and during for nothing. A lazy smile grew on her face. She couldn’t wait to go home and tell Harry all about the date until she noticed something on the passenger’s seat of her car.

 

 _Evie’s scarf_. She had been in such a rush (and honestly more focused in making Mal blush, not that she was complaining) when Mal dropped her off at the rink she probably hasn’t noticed it’s gone.

 

“Maybe she’s still there...?” Mal wondered to herself with a little smile (because it was a perfectly good excuse to see the girl again), turning on the car again and making a quick drive back to the rink and walking inside. Uma wasn’t there, instead there was the receptionist that she was used to, that was sort of her friend really.

 

“Hi, Jane,” Mal greeted with a smile.

 

“Mal, hi!” The brunette with vivid blue eyes excitedly replied. “You don’t have practice today, do you?”

 

“No,” Mal chuckled. “Just came to return my friend’s scarf. If she’s still here. Blue hair, nice eyes, gorgeous everything? Ring any bells?”

 

Jane smiled.

 

“Evie? Yeah, she’s still in there,”

 

“Cool,” Mal grinned a little too ridiculously for her own taste and Jane totally noticed, which made Mal’s cheeks flush a bit.

 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Mal groaned.

 

“Like what?” Jane chuckled, playing dumb.

 

“You know what I mean,” Mal replied. “Or else, I might have to ask how’s _Lonnie_ doing,” She added with a teasing smirk.

 

And now she had said it, because Jane blushed so hard it reached her ears.

 

“Ok,” Jane chuckled embarrassed. “You don’t ask about Lonnie and I don’t ask about Evie,”

 

Mal laughed along with her.

 

“You got it, girl. I’m leaving now.”

 

Jane shook her head amusedly and waved her goodbye. Mal made her way through the lobby and opened the door to the rink carefully, just in case Evie was practicing. Mal wouldn’t want to interrupt.

 

However, Mal stumbled upon three people when she walked in. Evie, Carlos and Audrey. They seemed deep into conversation and Mal frowned when she saw that Evie looked anything but the happy and bubbly girl she was used too. They were in the middle of the rink but as there wasn’t anything else going on, Mal could still hear some of what was being said.

 

“…You can’t ask me such a thing, Carlos,” Evie protested, clearly in distress. Audrey was staring at both of them with an expression Mal couldn’t read.

 

“Eves, it’s just this one time,” Carlos begged. “I wouldn’t ask this of you if I didn’t think you could do it—"

 

“Well, but I can’t, C, I just can’t. You can ask literally _everything_ from me, but not this,” Evie cut him off, shaking her head and voice cracked. Mal wanted to genuinely die at this point.

 

‘ _I shouldn’t be listening to this’_ The little voice in her head kept whispering. She shouldn’t really, because it totally sounded like they were discussing something related to the off-limits section of Evie’s life.

 

Deciding she was most definitely wrong by just standing there, she made her presence known by shutting the door and taking a few steps forward, reaching the edge of the ice. Her dark purple hair was impossible to miss and Carlos’ eyes immediately darted to her, making the other two girls’ heads turn to Mal. Evie looked livid and was the first to move, skating towards Mal, with the other two on her tail. She thought about smiling at her, but seeing Evie’s complexion shifting from upset to straight up angry, Mal decided against it.

 

“What did you hear?” Evie demanded as she swiftly came to a stop on the ice and crossing her arms. Her aggressive tone startled Mal so bad she even gave a step back.

 

“I- nothing, I just—” Mal stumbled on her words before being sharply interrupted by Evie.

 

“ _What did you hear?_ ”

 

“Not much, jeez, I just got here, Evie,” Mal said raising her hands in defeat, trying to calm down the distressed girl. That wasn’t a lie. She didn’t hear much and understood a total of zero things about what she did hear. It didn’t do much good, because Evie’s angry frown didn’t waver and Mal could literally see Evie putting her walls up, as her eyes became cold and distant. It was like something took over her and Mal was looking at a completely different person.

 

“You know, it’s rude to eavesdrop and to meddle in other people’s business, Mal. So, you didn’t think it was enough for you? Was that why you followed me here?”

 

Mal didn’t exactly have an answer for that, because she did stop on her tracks trying to listen and she regrets her decision. Harry told her to stay out of Evie’s business and she didn’t listen. Like always. She never listens. She didn’t listen to her coach or her teammates and now she was off the team. She didn’t listen to Harry and now, somehow, she was in the middle of a mess she didn’t really understand.

 

However, Evie had been so wrong just now. It was true that Mal craved for answers for the million thoughts in her head about Evie’s past, but they had just spent a lovely evening together and not once Mal asked any question that crossed the line, because she felt like Evie should tell her whenever she felt like it was right, if at all. It’s true that Mal’s curiosity got the best of her just now, but that was not why she had been there and Evie’s accusation was incredibly hurtful. Mal felt so frustrated. It was so dumb to think that she had a chance with Evie, at anything. So, Mal just opened her bag and fished out Evie’s scarf, extending it to her.

 

“You left this in my car,” Mal simply said. “I just came to return it, but sorry I worried,” She bitterly added.

 

Evie’s expression then changed, staring at the scarf, then at the hurt look Mal was giving her. The anger (that for real was never directed at Mal, herself) dissipated almost immediately, but it was too late. She fucked up. _She fucked up big time_. What the _hell_ was she thinking? Mal had nothing to do with this. Mal came back because she was being nice. And Evie unfairly took her frustration and her feelings all out on the girl that agreed to go out with her after she fucked up the first time around for the exact same reason. She opened her mouth. She had to say something, right? Apologize for snapping like that on Mal. But no words came out. Carlos and Audrey were looking very apprehensive behind Evie.

 

“Well do you want this or should I drop it on the floor at a safe distance so I don’t hear you guys?” Mal knew exactly how bitter she was being, but it’s not like she could stop herself. “And honestly, why are you doing this to me? Why are you treating me like shit right now? How should I know if I cross a line or whatever if I don’t know what’s going on? I wasn’t trying to be a bitch or to meddle. I’m sorry I asked that thing the other day and I’m sorry I walked in on your very top-secret conversation or whatever the fuck that was, that’s my fault, but don’t pin all of it on me. It’s not my fault that I’m out of the loop and I don’t think I deserve this.”

 

Evie, completely numb from Mal’s words cutting her insides like a bunch of rusty old knifes, slowly took the scarf from the girl’s hand, ashamed of her behavior, feeling like she fully deserved Mal’s bitterness.

 

As soon as the fabric was no longer in her hand, Mal threw her bag on her shoulder and walked away without another word, slamming the rink door behind her, not leaving any chances for Evie to say anything. She drove, but not back home. She didn’t feel like explaining what just happened to Harry and hear his ‘ _I told you so’_ speech. So, she drove to the one place she went to whenever she needed to be alone and blow off some steam. It was this tiny park across town, a block away from hers and Harry’s apartment. It was mostly abandoned; no kids were ever there which was perfect for Mal. She stepped out of the car and took out of the trunk the one thing she carried everywhere other than her ice hockey gear and her sketch book.

 

Her _skateboard_.

 

Skateboarding was a habit she got and grew to love from her goofy neighbors, Chad and Gil, when she was a kid and still lived with her mom. And she became quite good at it. Harry had been her neighbor too, and they’d play outside as well, but he was never into it, he had ballet lessons before finding his true place in figure skating and that was his passion and what he was good at. Chad and Gil were in college as well, so they were out of town a lot, leaving Mal to skateboard by herself, but she didn’t exactly mind.

 

She thought about those times as she changed from her combat boots to a pair of black Vans, more appropriate to skateboard and sighted. Everything was so much simpler back then.

 

And, really, Mal wasn’t bragging or anything, but she was good at skateboarding. A smile cracked when she felt the familiar sense of freedom that the wind in her face and the speed brought her. She could do a bunch of tricks too but today was not of one of those days. She just wanted to skate around and feel the anger and the frustration flow out of her body and into the wind as she did so.

 

Except today that wasn’t working so well. Mal skated around for half an hour and when she finally decided to sit on one the abandoned swings, she realized her heart was just as hurt as before. She couldn’t understand. One moment they were laughing over a strawberry milkshake and the other Evie was straight up treating her like crap. She threw her skateboard on the floor as tears of frustration welled up in her eyes. She bit her lower lip to try and keep them at bay. Why was she even reacting like this?

 

Oh, right. She might or might not be in love with Evie. That’s why.

 

“…Mal?”

 

Mal blinks away her tears when she hears a familiar voice behind her.

 

“How did you know I was here?” She asked without turning around. Harry slowly stepped closer and gently sat on the swing right next to her, the hood of his sweatshirt over his head.

 

“Ye never came home. I thought I’d find ye here,” Harry replied with a shrug.

 

“Right,”

 

Harry looked at her and felt a wave of sadness, seeing her so distressed. If there’s one person in the world that knew Mal like the back of their hand, that would be Harry. Sometimes he knew her better than she knew herself. And Harry knew this was all news to her. Because Mal had never truly been in love, so she had never been hurt like this before.

 

“Do ye want to tell me what happened?” He gently asked.

 

Mal looked at him and studied his face. Because two could play this game. Mal knew Harry better than anyone as well and she could tell by his face whenever he was about to lecture her. His expression seemed, however, genuinely concerned.

 

“I don’t think this is going to work out, Harry, and I was dumb to believe it could,” Mal quietly replied, staring down at her own feet. She refused to look at him, not when her tears kept stubbornly filling her eyes.

 

How Mal knew that Harry had already heard what happened, the boy couldn’t tell you, but she, somehow, had a hunch. A good one, because Harry had gotten two phone calls, one from a very distressed Evie that didn’t tell him much because she had been in tears, and one from Carlos, asking about Mal’s whereabouts. When Harry asked why, Carlos explained what went down at the ice rink, which lead Harry to look for Mal and find her at her little corner of the city.

 

Harry got up from his swing, picked up Mal’s skateboard and used it to sit down in front of her, taking a hold of her hands.

 

“Hey, now. Look at me,”

 

Mal didn’t want to. She felt humiliated and wanted nothing more than to dig a hole right there and hide in it forever. Alas, she looked at Harry and her tears fell from her eyes directly to the floor. Mal looked so incredibly sad and Harry hated every second of it.

 

“I know what yer feeling,” He started while gently wiping Mal’s tears. She gave him a look and the boy could hear the ‘ _yeah, right’_ that she didn’t say. “Ay, I do,”

 

Mal watched as his expression changed, a little too stoic for her liking and something told her she wasn’t ready to hear what he was going to say next.

 

“Long story short, there was this person I liked and we even got together for a while,” Harry kept going in the same gentle tone. “But it didn’t work out and that…I was devastated. Yer feelin’ confused and hurt right now, I know. I know ‘cause I felt it too. It’s like the rug was pushed from yer feet and ye don’t really know why.” Harry looked up at her with a sad smile, like he had been relieving the whole experience and Mal couldn’t stand it. He squeezed her hand, like he read her mind and was trying to reassure her than he was fine.

 

“Look, Evie can be…complicated. She went through some rough shit that changed her and she isn’t over it yet. I know it sucks that she’s being defensive but give it time. Ye can trust me when I say she is a great lass and that ye shouldn’t give up on her just yet,”

 

Mal for a second there forgot about her own feelings to focus on the boy in front of her, trying to make her feel better. She squeezed his hand back.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mal asked.

 

“Ye had a lot on yer plate already,” Harry shrugged.

 

Mal’s heart broke a little at that. No, it broke a lot, because his excuse was bullshit. Mal knew better. She wasn’t any good with feelings and Harry thought he was doing the right thing in not telling her, like his feelings were some sort of a burden to her.

 

“I had a lot on my plate my ass. You’re like a brother to me, your feelings matter to me and I would’ve been there for you, you big idiot,” Mal protested slapping his arm. “I know I’m a total mess and that it always looks like I don’t care and I’m really sorry for that, but I do care and I hate the thought of you going through something like that alone,”

 

Harry chuckled at her antics while shaking his head and rose from the skateboard. Mal followed.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell ye,” He then genuinely apologized and she smiled at him, accepting his apology right away.

 

Mal pulled the boy for a hug and he was happy to wrap his arms around her.

 

“Just don’t do that again, ok?”

 

“Ay, lass, I promise,”

 

“Thank you for the pep-talk, by the way,” Mal then said pulling back to meet his eyes. “So, you don’t think all is lost?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“Hell no. Ye just have to give it time. She became really good at pushing people away whenever she feels threatened and it became second nature for her. She didn’t mean it as a direct attack on ye,” Harry explained, sounding really sure of himself. “Plus, I still want ye to spill on the date,” A boyish grin grew on his lips and it was contagious enough to make Mal smile.

 

“The date was amazing,” Mal admitted with rosy cheeks. “She’s amazing,”

 

“Yeah! I knew it!” Harry squealed and Mal shook her head in amusement. He threw an arm around her shoulders. “How about we go home and I make ye some hot chocolate?”

 

Mal snuggled into his embrace with a soft smile.

 

“I’d like that. You’re the best big bro ever,”

 

Harry grinned.

 

“Off we go, then!”

 

 

//

 

 

Mal and Harry’s apartment was quiet. After a cup of hot chocolate and a Brooklyn Nine-Nine marathon (the two best friends laughed until they couldn’t breathe), Mal was now softly asleep on the couch, snoring lightly and covered with a blanket, that Harry fetched after realizing she had fallen asleep.

 

The boy, on the other hand, was flipping channels, grumbling quietly about how ridiculous it was that nothing interesting was on tv on a Sunday night, until there was a knock on the door. He stared at it for a second, a bit confused as to who could be. They really weren’t expecting anyone. He got up, opened the door as quietly as possible and Harry’s eyes widened in surprise when he found Evie on the other side. He couldn’t help but notice the puffy tired eyes and the slightly smudged mascara.

 

Evie, who broke down in tears after Mal stormed off from the ice rink, who was feeling like shit for making a scene, twice, who was frustrated that her past experiences were still messing with her life.

 

“Evie? What are ye doing here?” He asked in a whisper and she detected his defensive tone, which only made her heart hurt more.

 

“I’m sorry for showing up unannounced. I just... Can I please talk to Mal?”

 

Harry shook his head.

 

“She’s asleep,” Harry replied and opened the door just enough for Evie to catch a glimpse of the sleeping purple haired girl. The only source of light was their tv screen but that sight knocked the air out of Evie’s lungs. Harry walked outside and closed the door behind him. “Look, yer my friend and I care a lot about ye. I know ye’ve been through a lot, but Mal is family to me and I’ll always protect her,” Harry stated.

 

Evie immediately felt her eyes burn.

 

“I didn’t mean it, Harry, I want to apologize,” She explained. Evie truly just wanted to apologize to Mal. She never intended for her traumas to get in the way of what she was building with Mal.

 

“I know ye do and I know ye mean it,” Harry nodded and his tone was now soft, caring, understanding. “But ye can’t keep on doing this to her. If ye really want her in yer life, ye have to be ready to trust and share,” Evie opened her mouth but Harry held up a hand, letting her know he wasn’t done. “ _I know, I know_. It’s not easy after…ye know. But that’s not Mal’s fault. If yer not ready to face yer fears just yet, then please don’t go around playing this back and forth game with her. Ye’ll end up hurting her feelings again and I won’t let it happen.”

 

Evie knew he was right. She had been so starstruck by the beautiful girl that she forgot the skeletons in her closet for a moment. Maybe she was rushing this. But Mal swept her off her feet from the very first moment. Even when she thought she was making a fool out of herself, Evie couldn’t help but notice her pretty purple hair, her shining green eyes, her pale porcelain skin and her dashing smile. And it was more than that. It was her feisty personality, her kind and genuine heart, things she noticed from the time she got to spend with her. Evie really thought she could do this. She wanted to do this. The way she felt about Mal…it was the worst case of the butterflies, like some love at first sight type of fairytale thing that Evie couldn’t explain.

 

Evie looked at Harry, almost begging for help. She didn’t know what to do. Harry kindly pulled her for a hug and she almost sobbed because she was in desperate need of one.

 

“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help,” He said and Evie looked up at him, like a lost puppy. He sighted. “Mal will be defensive when ye approach her next. Snarky and incisive. Don’t let it get to ye, it’s an act.”

 

Evie nodded, taking in his words. He pulled away.

 

“One more thing: I know this is very hard for ye, but if ye really want this, then give her something to hold on to. I’m not saying spill yer guts right away but give her something,” Harry proposed, genuinely trying to help. “This is really not my secret to tell, it has to be ye. If she understands, maybe she’ll even help ye with all of it. Food for thought?”

 

Evie definitely thinks Harry has a point, so she nodded quietly, unsure of what to say next. Harry gave her a tiny smile and after muttering a ‘ _good-night’_ , he walked back inside, leaving Evie to stare at the door, lost in her thoughts. Her past wasn’t allowing her to live the present the way she intended to and she really wanted to snap out of it. The incident with Mal made her realize she hadn’t made any sort of progress. All she did was suppress all of it, without actually facing the problem. It wasn’t going to be an easy task, but Evie was determined to get up and finally do something about it. Not just for Mal, but for herself.

 

With that in mind, Evie slowly walked back to her car, hugging herself.

 

She would make it up to Mal, the girl that walked through the doors and pass the guards of her heart and had been melting away all of her walls.

 

She’d be better than this horrible back and forth thing. Or, should she say ‘ ** _ice and forth’_**?

 

“ _I’ll be better, I promise_.” She whispered into the night as she drove home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I know, I know, I'm taking the longest to update but I didn't forget about this fic or the AMAZING reactions it's been having! (Thank you so much, it means the world to me!) Here's the new chapter!! I hope y'all have fun with this one!
> 
> See you next chapter :) x


	5. Memories On Ice: The Quad Loop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW // ANXIETY
> 
> TW // PANIC ATTACK
> 
> TW // MENTION OF BROKEN BONES

The past couple of weeks were not easy for Evie. After she unfairly snapped at Mal, the latter girl made sure to keep her distance during the week that followed. She showed up a few times, probably because Harry asked her to, Evie guessed, but Mal refused to even look at her. And Evie kept letting the chances of talking to Mal escape, chickening out, freezing, unable to utter a single word to the girl, ashamed of her previous behavior. After a week it became borderline embarrassing and Evie _had_ to snap out of it.

 

So, Evie showed up on Monday morning, determined to finally talk to Mal, or at least try to apologize but the universe wasn’t having it. There was no sign of the purple haired girl anywhere. Evie tried to hide her frown from Audrey and Ben who arrived shortly after.

 

“Where’s Carlos?” Evie inquired, like she suddenly realized the boy was missing. The ice dancing duo gave Evie a look.

 

“Evie, Carlos is with Harry. They flew to Scotland yesterday for the Nationals and are staying the whole week, so Harry gets to be with his family,” Ben politely reminded her. “It’s just us for a while,” he added.

 

_Scotland. The Nationals. Of course. How could she forget?_

No wonder Mal wasn’t there. Mal was _with_ them. She was going to be away for the whole week. Another full week of not apologizing to Mal. A full week of not seeing her. Evie felt her stomach drop.

 

“Evie, are you ok?” Ben asked, frowning ever so slightly, probably noticing Evie’s lack of enthusiasm.

 

Evie blinked.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” She said after clearing her throat. “We should get started,”

 

Evie moved pass them and sat on a chair, taking her skates of her bag. Audrey sat next to her and Evie refrained from sighting.

 

“Yes?” Evie knew the brunette sitting next to her so well. Well enough to know she wouldn’t be as gentle around her as Ben. Audrey had always been a _‘straight to the point’_ type of girl.

 

“So, you really like Mal, huh?”

 

Evie started slipping her skates on, not bothering with giving Audrey an answer. She didn’t want to talk about Mal. At least, not with her.

 

“Evie, I’m not trying to be a bitch,” Audrey continued and this time genuine concern could be heard. “If you really like her, you should go for it. She seemed really nice and funny. Oh, and she’s definitely charming,”

 

Evie didn’t have to look to know Audrey cracked a smile and she found herself clenching her jaw.

 

_Oh, no. Ugly emotion._

“She is,” Evie replied.

 

“Then why did you do that the other day? You sort of broke her heart, you know that, right?” Audrey asked, cautiously. Evie got up. It didn’t matter that Audrey was genuinely worried. This conversation was over.

 

“Right,” Evie scoffed. “Because you’d know all about breaking hearts, wouldn’t you, Audrey?”

 

And with this, Evie hopped swiftly on the ice, leaving no openings for Audrey to keep talking. But Evie didn’t feel like practicing today. She sighted. It was going to be a long week.

 

 

//

 

 

Mal liked to claim she was immune to jetlag, but the hard truth was that she slept until five in the afternoon on her first day in Scotland. And it was pretty embarrassing to walk out of the guest bedroom at such an hour because she was staying with Harry and his family. Carlos wanted to book a hotel but Harry had insisted on both of them staying with him and none of them could say no. Mr. James Hook, Harry’s father, lived in the US during Harry’s (and his two sisters, CJ and Harriet’s) childhood. Harry was insanely talented and, because of that, he was scouted to practice in the US so, of course they took the opportunity. But he wasn’t old enough to be by himself, so everyone moved for a while. As Harry grew up, everyone else moved back to Scotland.

 

Mal was family to them, but she still smiled sheepishly when she showed up after sleeping for way too long. She didn’t even have time for small talk because Harry and Carlos walked inside in that moment and her best friend quickly swooped in.

 

“C’mon, I want to show ye the rink we’re skating in tomorrow,” He explained excitedly.

 

“Weren’t you just there, dork?” Mal replied while she, already dressed by then, tried to tame her wild hair.

 

“Ay, for the draw,” Harry nodded. “I’m skating second in my group,” He added. “But I want ye to see it before it’s crowded,”

 

Mal watched his excitement grow with every word and chuckled amusedly.

 

“It’s quite the view,” Carlos added with a smile.

 

“Alright, alright, you nerds, let’s go,” Mal teased with a grin.

 

But her grin soon faded on the drive to the ice rink. She should be more excited, right? She was basically with family, traveled to a rather beautiful country to support her best friend. Yet her mind was back at home, thinking about Evie. Thinking about how she decided to stay out of her way and how Evie apparently was happy that way because she hadn’t said a word to Mal since their fight at the rink. So, Mal came to Scotland pretty sure Evie didn’t want to talk to her anymore and that made her heart sink in ways she couldn’t describe or understand.

 

Mal felt so frustrated. Angry with herself for not being able to stop thinking about a girl who didn’t want anything to do with her. Angry that she fell hard and fast for Evie. She shook her head.

 

_‘Snap out of it, Mal,’_

She tried to focus on something else. Anything would do. The song that was playing on the radio. The conversation Harry and Carlos were having about figure skating scores that Mal did not understand enough about to join. The lovely sight of the neoclassical buildings that were typical of Edinburgh. How the Edinburgh Castle looked beautiful under the sunset as they passed. But she couldn’t focus. No, she couldn’t, because the song on the radio reminded her of Evie. Because Harry and Carlos talking about figure skating reminded her of Evie skating. Because the sight right outside the window was definitely something Mal would draw and show to Evie, even let her keep the drawing because she’d be too excited about it and Mal wanted to be the reason Evie looked so happy. She sighted dramatically and hoped her friends didn’t notice.

 

Mal was there to support her friend and that’s what she intended to do. But perhaps this week away was weighting down on her and Mal figured it was going to be a long one.

 

 

//

 

Evie waited nervously. _Why was it taking so damn long?_

 

A week had passed. Very slowly, in a torturous kind of way but it passed.

 

She had heard the news from a very excited Carlos, somewhere in the middle of the week. Harry had snatched his first gold medal of the season, earning a new personal best on his free program and how the first of many exhibition galas had been a huge success. She had squealed on the phone, happy for her rink mate and friend and it was genuine.

 

So now, Evie was at the airport, along with Ben, Audrey and Uma, all waiting to welcome them home and maybe celebrate if they’re not too tired. Their flight wasn’t delayed and Evie figured they’d be looking for their bags right now but the wait was killing her nonetheless.

 

The stress of the wait, however, was nothing compared to how her heart stopped at the sight of Mal coming out of the terminal looking like the coziest human ever. She was wearing a pink hoodie, black jeans and a black Vans beanie to match the ones she had on her feet. Mal looked like she slept during the whole flight, as she sleepily smiled at something Harry, who came out with his gold medal around his neck, was saying.

 

Harry (and Carlos as well) was then bombarded with hugs and laughter from his friends. Ben practically tackled the boy with a big hug, making Harry light up and laugh. Uma then followed probably making some stupid joke because Harry raised an amused brow and with an honest chuckle hugged her. Audrey had a big smile and a hug waiting for him and wanted to see the gold medal. But Evie was frozen where she stood, as she watched Mal greet Uma with a grin and they both laughed while Harry pouted. Then came Ben and Mal greeted the gentle boy with a hug. And finally, Audrey, who she greeted with an easy smile that turned into laughter over something Audrey said that Evie couldn’t quite catch.

 

Evie _hated_ it. She hated the ugly emotion boiling inside her that made her clench her jaw so hard you could probably see it throb. She hated that she was feeling it towards a girl that wasn’t hers. She hated that Mal was very aware that Evie was there but hadn’t even looked her way.

 

“Hey there,”

 

Evie snapped out of her trance when she felt Carlos’ hand on her shoulder. She blinked and looked over at the younger boy. Then she pulled him for a hug.

 

“Hi, C,” She greeted, smiling as he hugged her back. “We missed you,”

 

Carlos chuckled and pulled away to look at Evie for a second. “Tough week?”

 

Did Evie consider lying? Of course. But it wouldn’t do her any good, because Carlos knew her well. He’d see right through her.

 

“Yeah,” She sights, defeated.

 

Before Carlos could reply Harry showed up behind him and Evie held a huge grin for him. Seeing how Harry easily grinned back, Evie threw her hands around him.

 

“Congratulations, dork,” She said. “I knew you’d ace it,”

 

“Thanks, princess,” He chuckled. He then turned to Carlos. “They want to take us out for drinks, to celebrate. Ye up for it?”

 

Carlos grinned. “Of course,”

 

Harry grinned and turned to the group.

 

“He said yes!” He all but yelled and everyone cheered. One by one, they all walked past Evie and Carlos.

 

Until it was Mal’s turn. She stopped on her tracks for a second, maybe waiting for Evie to say something, her pretty green eyes, still coated with sleep, staring into Evie’s. But Evie couldn’t move.

 

_‘Say something!’_

 

Why was she so scared of talking to Mal?

 

_‘Apologize!’_

Why wasn’t her voice working?

 

**_‘Say something, damn it!’_ **

****

But nothing came out. Mal frowned ever so slightly, enough for Evie to notice and slowly moved past her, leaving the blue haired girl frowning. Angry with herself for chickening out every damn time.

 

 

//

 

 

After leaving the airport, the group took their celebrations to the same coffee shop Evie invited Mal to because, one, none of them actually drank alcohol and two, the universe liked to play with Evie’s feelings. She watched from the counter as the group was hurled together with Harry and Mal in the middle, probably telling them all about the trip and she couldn’t help but to smile at the sight of the two best friends, making each other and everyone else laugh with such ease. She turned her eyes to her glass, with a smoothie she ordered but barely touched.

 

“Why aren’t you with us?”

 

She looked up to find Uma sitting next to her. She has no idea of how long the girl with the long braids had been standing there and there was no point in dwelling on it.

 

“I don’t think I’m wanted there,” She shrugged, her gaze following Mal and her stomach did some sort of _thing_ over the sound of Mal’s giggles.

 

Uma followed Evie’s gaze and shook her head.

 

“Well, I think you’re wrong,”

 

Evie didn’t know how to reply to that and she was spared when the coffee shop door opened and a someone walked in. The boy who had just entered, looked around, most likely looking for someone. Evie had a feeling she had seen him before. His long hair was partially hidden by a blue beanie and he was casually wearing a burgundy leather jacket over a white shirt and a pair of jeans.

 

“Jay! Over here,” Uma called, clearly knowing the boy. He turned to where he heard his name and relief crossed his expression before he walked over.

 

“Sup,” He greeted with a smile, shoving his hands in his pockets.

 

“If you’re looking for Mal, she’s right over there,” Uma informed and before Evie or Jay could even stop her, she was already yelling Mal’s name from across the coffee shop. Evie tensed up when Mal approached them, avoiding eye contact with Evie.

 

“Jay? What are you doing here?” She inquired with a smile on her face. Uma seemed confused about Mal having no idea of why the boy was there.

 

“Well, I—”

 

“Jay,”

 

All heads turned to Carlos, who showed up behind them with an easy smile. Jay gave him the tiniest of smiles that didn’t go unnoticed by them. Mal raised a curious eyebrow at Jay, that earned her a warning glare and Evie had to refrain from giggling. Carlos was looking slightly blushed. “I’m glad you could make it,” Carlos continued. “Find us a table, I’ll be there in a second, yeah?”

 

Jay nodded, maybe a little shyly.

 

“Yeah, sure,” He answered, walking past them and sitting on a table nearby.

 

Carlos blushed a little harder under everyone’s curious looks. Evie decided to step up and got up from her seat, looping an arm around the white-haired boy.

 

“So?” She asked, sort of teasing him.

 

“I, uh, I sort of invited him,” Carlos replied quietly and that made Evie smile.

 

“Then go get him, you dork,” She whispered, pushing him in Jay’s direction. Carlos smiled back, embarrassed but off he went anyway, easily sliding into the seat across from Jay. The boys shared a smile.

 

“Uma! Ye owe me a drink, so get yer arse over here, lass,” Harry shouted from where he stood with Ben and Audrey. Uma chuckled and with that she went back to join the group, leaving, like in any good cliché story, Evie and Mal alone.

 

Mal didn’t wait this time around to turn her back on Evie.

 

“Wait,” Evie finally blurted out, grabbing Mal by the sleeve of her hoodie. “Can we please talk?

 

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Mal mumbled, looking away stubbornly.

 

“You don’t have to talk. I just need you to listen. And if in the end, you don’t want anything to do with me, I’ll understand,” Evie replied quietly, incredibly relived that she seemed to have finally found her voice when it came to the girl in front of her.

 

Mal looked back at her, hurt coating her eyes. It broke Evie’s heart. She hated that she was the reason Mal was looking so sad, so she looks down, ashamed.

 

“Ok,”

 

Mal’s voice makes Evie look back up and at her. The green-eyed girl was now giving Evie a sort of hopeful and shy look. Evie takes it as a good sign and looks around.

 

“Would you mind if we went somewhere else?” Evie then asked, not feeling comfortable in having that conversation in a crowded place. Mal furrowed her brows.

 

“Like where?”

 

Evie thought for a bit.

 

“…How about my place?” Evie bit her lower lip, afraid Mal would say no.

 

Mal seemed to be thinking about it, which made Evie nervous but a wave of relief fills her body when Mal nods. Evie didn’t even bother to tell anyone she was leaving, grabbing her coat and leading Mal to the exit.

 

Evie was glad the walk from the coffee shop to her apartment was short, because the silence between them was heavy. Mal followed a little behind Evie, with her hands in her hoodie pocket and her eyes shyly focused on the floor, until they were inside the building and after a couple of stairs, inside Evie’s apartment. It gave Evie time to gather her thoughts and figure out how and what she was going to say to Mal, though.

 

Evie hung her coat and sat on her coach, inviting Mal to sit next to her. She did, but not after looking around for a bit. After that, she sat quietly next to Evie and waited.

 

_‘This is it, Evie, don’t you fuck it up this time,’_

Evie took a deep breath before letting her eyes rest on Mal’s.

 

“So, I know you have no reason to trust my words right now, but I want you to know I am so incredibly sorry for the way I acted,” Evie started and she realized she was way more at ease with Mal than she ever thought. It didn’t hurt any less and it didn’t prepare her for whatever would happen next, but at least, she was doing the right thing. “I wish I had a good excuse, maybe we’d both feel better, but I don’t. I snapped at you for no good reason and you were right. You don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve to be treated that unfairly and you don’t deserve the time it took me to talk to you,”

 

Mal listened and seemed to be holding on to every word and Evie notices it, taking it as a good sign and as incentive to finish what she started.

 

“I guess I was scared. Scared of you not accepting my apology, scared of you not wanting anything to do with me anymore. I still am, but I had to talk to you,”

 

Evie waited nervously as Mal took in her words, leaving only silence between them.

 

“…You really hurt me,” Mal replies after a bit, her voice barely over a whisper, the girl not really knowing what to do with her hands anymore, settling for crossing her arms.

 

Evie looks down frowning.

 

“I know,” She shakes her head, angry with herself. “I’m sorry,”

 

Evie misses how Mal’s eyes soften and shine with concern and care upon seeing her frowning like that. Misses how Mal shyly scoots closer and only looks up when she feels Mal’s touch, as she rests her hand on top of Evie’s. The sparkle they both felt at the coffee shop was back and they could not stop looking into each other’s eyes.

 

“It’s alright,” Mal softly says, caressing Evie’s hand. When Evie shakes her head, Mal gives a little smile. “I mean it. I know this is hard for you. Don’t worry about it,”

 

And like she read Evie’s mind, Mal sights.

 

“I avoided you because I wanted to give you space, I knew you needed it. But then you wouldn’t talk to me and I thought you were still upset and…I thought you didn’t want to talk to me anymore,” Mal explained. “I lied when I said I didn’t want to talk to you,” She added with a sheepish smile.

 

That makes Evie smile at her and Mal seems satisfied with that. “I’m glad I’m here with you,”

 

Evie’s smile widens.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah,” Mal nods.

 

“Does that mean you’re giving me another chance?” Evie feels the need to ask anyway, looking shyly at Mal.

 

Mal chuckles softly, seemingly relieved that she’s there with Evie. “Of course,”

 

There a bit of a pause after that and Evie makes a decision, speaking up:

 

“…Do you want to know why I gave up my competitive career?” Evie asks quietly, an unsettling feeling growing in her stomach, thinking about what it meant to tell Mal about it.

 

Mal’s eyes widened, with a mix of curiousness and concern. There’s another moment of silence.

 

“You don’t have to. I mean, I don’t want you to feel like you have to. I never wanted to force you,” Mal finally speaks up, as quiet as Evie. “You tell me whenever you feel you should, if at all,”

 

“No, you don’t understand,” Evie shakes her head. “I want to. I’ve been running from this for far too long, avoiding to talk about it at all costs. It has to stop. And I want you to know,”

 

Mal seems to notice the determined look in Evie’s eyes and nods, squeezing her hand, preparing herself for what she was going to hear next.

 

Evie took a deep breath.

 

 

//

 

 

_Evie doesn’t know exactly how it all happened. But it all happened really fast and suddenly she felt like everything was in slow motion. It was sort of an out of the body experience and honestly felt like some crazy lucid dream that would most definitely leave a mark._

_It started way before she was on the ice, when she realized she was experiencing something new during a competition. She had locked herself in the bathroom, drenched in cold sweats, shaking and gasping for air, having no idea of what was happening to her, but knowing exactly what triggered it. Evie felt terrified. She was inhaling as deeply as her lungs allowed her to but it still felt there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room. It was like the walls were caving in, like the room was going to eat her alive. Evie wanted to scream for help but nothing came out. She couldn’t breathe. She felt like she was drowning and the taste of her salty tears in her mouth wasn’t helping. She whimpered, helpless, eyes shut, defeated._

_Until someone found her._

_Carlos had been searching for her everywhere and wasn’t the least bit worried that he had just barged in the women’s bathroom because he knew a panic attack when he saw one and Evie was already experiencing it when she rushed away from him. The freckled white-haired boy might be young, but he was smarter than the average person, a prodigy as they called it. Carlos was definitely one of the most talented young people figure skating had ever seen. But he could never hold his ground on a real competition, as he suffered from anxiety himself. As competitions were extremely overwhelming, in every sense of the word, Carlos chose another option. To become one of the youngest coaches in the figure skating world. This option allowed him to stay in a world he loved and to help other skaters achieve their goals, aspirations and dreams._

_So, to say he saw what was happening a mile away, was an understatement. Carlos opened the bathroom stall and kneeled in front of his distressed friend. He was a coach but he was a friend, first and foremost._

_“I’m here, Evie,” Carlos started off, calm and assertive. Evie refused to open her eyes but she definitely was aware of his presence. “Focus on my voice and my voice only. Deep breaths, Evie. You’re safe,” He continued, trying to help her through the erratic breathing pattern Evie was currently stuck in. Evie scrunched her nose and furrowed her brows meaning she was trying to focus and after a bit of Carlos steadily keeping her focused on his voice, she started to breathe less erratically. Carlos let her take her time and it was a slow process but Evie managed to regain control of her breathing, opening her eyes to find her coach softly smiling at her._

_“That’s my girl,” He praised and making sure it was ok, he gently cupped her cheeks. “You’re ok,”_

_Evie stared at him, her face still wet with tears and sweat but the angsty sensation was fading away._

_“What happened?” She weakly asked._

_“You were having a panic attack,” Carlos explained, in the same calm and reassuring tone._

_Evie nodded. That had never happened before and she truly hoped to never experience it again._

_“Do you want to talk about it?” Carlos asked. Evie shook her head. That was the last thing she wanted to do right now._

_“I should be warming up,” She replied instead trying to get up but Carlos stopped her._

_“Whoa, wait, do you still want to go on the ice? You don’t have to, if you’re not feeling up for it. Your health comes before everything else, Evie,” Carlos expressed his concern._

_Evie stubbornly shook her head again, the huge rush of adrenaline leaving her body, making her more and more lucid by the second._

_“I want to, C,” Evie said as she slowly walked out of the stall. “There’s nothing I want more than to go on the ice today.” She continued as Carlos followed her steps._

_The duo left the bathroom shortly after. And in an hour, Evie was stepping on the ice, greeting the crowd with her dazzling thousand-watt smile. She felt the familiar buzz she loved and craved from competing. There was a tiny part of herself that didn’t quite feel in place that day, but she pushed it away. There was no room for mistakes if she wanted to be an option for the Olympic team._

_And so, she skated. Just like she did for hours on end during every practice that led to that moment. She knew every tiny detail about that routine and after all that happened it was so satisfying that all was going smoothly and according to plan. She smiled, proud of herself. In that moment she’d never tell you that going on the ice that day had been a mistake._

_Then followed the most important jump on the routine. It was something almost no female figure skater dared to attempt, even though it was popular and very much used amongst the male sector of the sport. A quadruple jump. Evie had worked more than any of her friends to master a **quadruple loop** , one of the few jumps that required four rotations before landing. She worked very closely with Carlos so she could make this jump her trump card. If she could land it easily, she’d get extra points in comparison to skaters with no quad jumps. If she, for some reason, had to pop the jump, she could still make it a triple or a double. She knew she could land it; she’d done it before in practice. _

_She counted the rotations; One, two, three, four. Now all she had to do was the landing. Her true mistake had been to look the wrong way for half a second before she jumped. That little moment broke her concentration, flooded her mind with something that wasn’t that jump and Evie came to that realization as her landing was all but smooth. She would’ve heard the gasps coming from the crowd if she hadn’t screamed in pain herself after hearing the horrifying sound of her ankle breaking as it hit the ice in all the wrong ways. Her body slammed against the ice and she groaned loudly, feeling the throbbing pain coming from her ankle. It was so intense it was nauseating and blinding._

_Everything that happened next, happened so slowly, Evie could remember every last detail, even through the pain. She covered her eyes, sobbing and whimpering, unable to move. She felt a bunch of bodies around her in a matter of seconds and she recognized Carlos’ distressed voice in the middle of what was probably the medical team. She yelped when she felt them take off her skate._

_Evie didn’t want to look. But she did anyway and she honestly didn’t know if she was going to faint or throw up. However, she did know that she had never felt so nauseated in her entire life. Her skin was stretched over an obvious underlying broken bone and the bruising was already severe all around the joint. She felt Carlos’ hand in hers and she should’ve known that was a warning because soon enough they were lifting her up into a stretcher and were putting her broken bone back in place without so much as a warning._

_That’s the last thing she remembers because the pain was so overwhelming, she fainted, only to wake up on a hospital bed after being taken into an emergency surgery._

_And as if the pain she woke up to wasn’t enough, she was bombarded with the devastating news that she had to stop skating for at least a year, in order to fully recover from her injury and hopefully going back to competing. All because of a dumb mistake. Evie remembers bursting into tears, feeling like the rug had been pulled from under her._

_The pain on her ankle was strong but it was nothing compared to the excruciating pain throbbing in her chest._

//

 

Evie was so absorbed in the story she was telling; she didn’t even notice she was crying until she felt Mal gently wiping the tears with her thumbs. She was definitely feeling heartbroken over reliving one of the scariest moments of her life but she was also feeling this huge weight being lifted off her shoulders, her chest, her whole body.

 

“I’m so sorry, Evie,” Mal softly said, caressing her cheek. She looked like she had been punched in the gut. Evie was sort of grateful Mal wasn’t asking questions, letting her set the pace.

 

“Ready to run, yet?” Evie tried to make a joke but Mal looked genuinely offended by it.

 

“Why would you think I’d run?” Mal inquired.

 

“I don’t know,” Evie shrugs. “I’m a little broken and that tends to scare people away,” She adds, looking down.

 

Mal lifts her chin up and Evie definitely feels like Mal’s touch is her new favorite thing.

 

“I’m not going anywhere,” Mal assures her. “Thank you. For telling me all that. You didn’t have to and I know it wasn’t easy,” She adds and the way she’s looking at Evie knocks the air out of her lungs.

 

“Thank you, for listening,” Evie replies, feeling incredibly safe in Mal’s company.

 

Mal nods and before Evie could process her action, Mal lays her head on Evie’s shoulder, wrapping both her arms around Evie’s. Evie definitely wasn’t complaining but she just hoped Mal couldn’t hear how hard her heart was hammering against her chest. Turns out she didn’t have to worry because Mal was fast asleep already, probably exhausted from the flight and the long night.

 

Evie looked over at the sleeping girl and smiled, recalling the sight of Mal softly asleep on hers and Harry’s couch the other night. She sighted, relieved. Her night hadn’t been horrible at all. She felt proud for doing the right thing and for telling Mal about her injury. Evie hadn’t told her the full extent of the story and she figured that Mal was well aware of it but the part she kept out was the hardest one to deal with and Evie needed a bit more time to get into it.

 

Evie closed her eyes, relaxed like she hadn’t been in weeks and her heart skipped a beat when Mal nuzzled into the crook of her neck in her sleep.

 

For the first time in forever, Evie felt like she was finally making progress. All thanks to the beautiful girl that was sleeping all over her. Evie smiled and let sleep take over her, comfortable with Mal’s presence.

 

Things were getting better. At last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, yes it took me ages but here's another chapter of this thingy!
> 
> I hope y'all like it. Let me know? :) 
> 
> See you next chapter :) x


	6. Quid Puck Quo

Mal woke up with a groan as the sunlight entered right through the windows, having no mercy for her bright green eyes. She truly fucking hated mornings.  She opened her eyes lazily and dazed from sleep, she found herself a little confused. Her pillow was comfy, but not _that_ comfy. Her pillow most certainly doesn’t snore softly or nuzzles back into her. Mal blinked a couple of times and it hit her.

 

She went to Evie’s apartment to talk with her.

 

They had a heart to heart.

 

Then Mal remembers laying her head on Evie’s shoulder, because she felt like the girl needed some sort of comforting gesture. And that was it.

 

“It’s morning…?” Mal mumbled to herself.

 

_Oh, fuck._

 

She gently moved her head and watched as Evie leaned on her, still asleep. Normally, Mal would freak out that she let herself fall asleep on someone like that. However, oddly enough, that wasn’t the case. Mal felt very comfortable right there in the crook of Evie’s neck, even though both girls never got out of the clothes they were wearing and ended up crashing on the couch instead of sleeping on a bed. Mal took a moment to really look at the breathtaking girl that was sleeping sort of on top of her. Evie looked very peaceful and the way she snuggled against Mal made her look like a puppy. Mal couldn’t help herself and smiled at the sight. Instead of being crazy nervous over what was just happening, Mal found herself wanting more of it. She wanted to fall asleep on Evie like that and wake up like that.

 

Trying not to move too much, Mal fished out her phone and looked at the time. It was still pretty early and in any other situation, she’d just go back to sleep. But she felt Evie moving slightly and humming before opening her eyes. She seemed just as puzzled as Mal when she woke up but realization came soon enough. She looked over and found Mal, already awake staring back at her.

 

“Morning,” Evie greeted with a sleepy smile and a raspy voice. Mal’s heart threatened to shoot out of her chest at that. She wanted Evie to greet her like that every morning.

 

“Morning, Evie,” Mal greeted back and she felt herself blush, nervousness bubbling on the pit of her stomach, now that the girl was actually awake and staring right into her eyes. “Sorry, I totally fell asleep on you. It was probably the stupid jetlag—"

 

Mal’s nervous mumbling was cut short by Evie’s light chuckle.

 

“It’s ok. You were tired. Did you sleep well?” Evie asked, yawning quite adorably after. Mal had to swallow an actual squeal and cleared her throat, nodding shyly.

 

“Yeah. You?”

 

Evie smiled. “Me too,”

 

The girls sat back straight on the couch, allowing Mal to stretch her entire body, sighting in relief as her back cracked. There was this little silent moment between the two girls, the events of last night finally catching up to them. Mal couldn’t stop thinking about what Evie had shared with her and Evie couldn’t stop thinking about what it meant for them or about the things she felt about the beautiful girl in front of her.

 

“I have to get ready for practice,” Evie then announced, getting up from the couch. Then she looked at Mal rather hopefully. “Would you want to… maybe come with me? We could have breakfast at the coffee shop?”

 

Mal got up, cracking her back again and looked at Evie, noticing maybe a hint of nervousness in Evie’s tone.

 

“I have to get out of these clothes... Can I meet you there? At the coffee shop, I mean. I promise I won’t be long,” Mal replied. Evie seemed both relieved but also a bit scared and Mal knew exactly why, so she walked over to Evie and before she could stop herself, she gently placed one of Evie’s wavy blue locks behind her ear, making the taller girl blush. “I meant what I said last night. I’m not going anywhere. I will meet up with you at the coffee shop,”

 

Evie seemed to relax.

 

“I’ll text you, is that ok?” Evie asked, giving Mal a shy smile.

 

“Sure,” Mal grinned and with one last look, she walked out of Evie’s apartment. She took a second there to process the information. This was actually happening. This gorgeous girl wanted to be around her.

 

Mal couldn’t wait.

 

 

//

 

 

Imagine Harry’s surprise when a very out of breath Mal walked inside the apartment they shared and leaned on the door, catching her breath, the fact that she slept all snuggled to the girl she liked finally fully sinking in. _That_ really happened.

 

“Mal! Yer a welcome sight!” He chirped from the counter where he was stuffing himself with food.

 

“…Huh?” Mal breathed out.

 

“Ye never came home last night,” Harry pointed out.

 

Mal blinked. Right! She never went home because she crashed at Evie’s. On Evie. She couldn’t stay. Harry was looking at her curiously, but she didn’t have the time to sit down and explain.

 

“Uh, yeah! I- I’ll, uh, tell you later, I have to hurry!” Mal blurted out, already half naked and on her way to the bathroom where she took the quickest shower of her life. She dried herself and her hair the best she could with a towel, fetched a purple Vans hoodie, her black ripped jeans and her black Vans sneakers. She run her hands through her hair, still partially wet, trying to tame it and got out of the bathroom.

 

Harry whistled.

 

“That was fast, lass,” He chuckled.

 

Mal stopped rushing for a bit, because it hit her that she’s supposed to wait for Evie’s text and finally took a good look at her best friend’s curious expression.

 

“Want some breakfast?” He offered.

 

Mal shook her head.

 

“I’m having breakfast with Evie,” Mal replied and Harry grinned.

 

“Ay? Is that so?” Harry got up, walked closer to Mal and suddenly stopped on his tracks, a stupid boyish smirk blessing his pretty face. “Wait, did ye—”

 

“Harry!” Mal gasped while slapping his arm and he giggled, seeing how Mal blushed so hard it reached her ears.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” He said in between chuckles.

 

“If you must know, nothing happened. Not what you were thinking, at least,” Mal said, finally indulging Harry’s curiosity. “We just… Ok, she wanted to talk, so we ended up at her place. And I crashed there. On her couch. On her. Literally.”

 

“I’m sorry, ye **_what_**?”

 

Mal was about to explain when her phone buzzed and she almost dropped the thing while fishing it from her pocket. It was a text from Evie saying she was leaving the house.

 

“Tell you later, I got to go,” Mal quickly said, grabbing her keys and dashing from the apartment, leaving Harry chuckling to himself.

 

 

//

 

 

Mal hated mornings; that was a known fact. But she’d totally wake up early in the morning every single day, if that means spending time with Evie. They had breakfast and Mal got to watch her skate. It was heaven on earth, to be around Evie. Everything was better with her. Everything about her was perfect. Everything was going smoothly, that until it was time for her own practice. She didn’t feel the least bit motivated to bust her ass on the ice hockey field, knowing that she most likely would be sitting on the bench when it really mattered and it felt weird and disconcerting not wearing the captain’s armband. To see it on someone else’s arm. Alas, Mal still showed up and still played as she always does. Because above else, Mal loves ice hockey. Right?

 

So, an hour in, Mal was feeling the sweat drip from her temples, her hair glued to her face as she went through the usual drills. She tried her very best to not act on her individuality. She passed the puck whenever she could. She didn’t score a single goal, not even when it was clearly the best option.

 

“Bertha!”

 

She stopped skating upon hearing her name and looked over to her coach.

 

“What on earth are ye doin’? Ye had a clear shot. Why didn’t ye score?” Merida asked in this scolding tone that Mal didn’t like at all and she genuinely felt like hitting her with the stick.

 

Merida shook her head.

 

“I can’t have ye on the field, if yer goin’ tae waste clear shots,” She warned.

 

Mal felt like the rug was being pulled from under her, again, and took off her helmet, glaring at her coach. This had to be a joke, right?

 

“Again!” Merida’s voice boomed on the field, not giving Mal an opening to protest and everyone went back to their positions. Mal groaned and put her helmet back on as they all ran the drill again.

 

However, Mal’s focus was lost. _What was Merida trying to say? First, she basically called her a selfish player and took what mattered most from her and now she was scolding her for not being selfish?_ Mal shook her head, trying to regain focus, but the very last straw was when she looked over to the bleachers for a second and saw Evie, who was looking at her with her warm brown eyes. _Evie was there. Watching her. How long had she been there?_

Her brain didn’t have the time to formulate a theory, because her distraction could only end up poorly. She only remembered she had the puck when she felt Lonnie’s body slamming against hers and she ended up falling flat on the ice, head first. Merida blew the whistle and everyone stopped. Mal groaned, frustrated. Nothing serious happened, fortunately, her helmet prevented a concussion but her pride was most definitely hurt.

 

“Hey, you ok?” Lonnie bent down to help Mal up but she aggressively slapped her hand and got up on her own, taking her helmet off and slamming it on the ice.

 

“Don’t touch me!” Mal all but growled.

 

“Calm down, lass,” Merida warned, skating towards her.

 

But Mal wasn’t having it, any of it anymore. She shook her head.

 

“Shut up, shut up, _shut up_! I’m trying! I did everything right! _What the hell do you want from me!?_ ” Mal cried out, her shaking voice echoing in the rink that fell into silence as the scene unfolded in front of them. For a moment, Mal completely forgot Evie was there.

 

“You know what? _I quit_! I don’t fucking deserve this!” Mal announced, her voice breaking. She threw her stick on the ice, took off her gloves too and skated away from them. No one tried to stop her. She made her way to the locker room and once inside she clumsily and shakily took off her skates and threw them on the floor, a sob escaping her lips as she sat down and pressed the palms of her hands against her eyelids, trying not to cry. She felt frustrated. Angry. Defeated.

 

It was working just fine until Mal heard the door open and felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

 

“…Mal?”

 

_Evie._

She forgot Evie was there. Evie saw the whole thing. Mal shook her head, feeling ridiculously ashamed that Evie had to witness that. Evie sat down next to her, leaving her hand on Mal’s shoulder without another word, and the comfort that simple action brought Mal, allowed her vulnerability to run free. The tears formed in her eyes and easily slid through her hands and down her cheeks as she gritted her teeth to keep another sob from coming out. Mal had only ever cried in front of Harry. No one else had permission to see her at her most vulnerable state. Until Evie came along, of course. Her presence and her touch were comforting, welcomed even. Mal didn’t feel ashamed of crying in front of her, even though they didn’t know each other for long. If Mal was being honest with herself, this was bound to happen. She had been bottling up her frustration and everything else she felt over losing her position on the team and now she couldn’t anymore.

 

Evie felt a lump in her throat, watching Mal like this. She wasn’t sure exactly what caused her to explode in that way, but that didn’t really matter. Mal’s hands were shaking and her breathing stuttered, as the smaller girl navigated through her frustration. Evie decided to gently throw an arm around Mal’s shoulders, trying to soothe her somehow, unsure of what to say because it was usually her on the crying side of a situation like this. Mal slowly took her hands off her puffy eyes to stare at Evie, for just a moment. Evie saw those beautiful green eyes filled with confusion and hurt before Mal buries her face in Evie’s chest, looking for comfort from her. Evie nods to herself and pulls Mal with her other arm, hugging her gently and close to her heart.

 

“I got you,” Evie whispered and Mal sobbed into Evie’s shirt.

 

It took Mal a couple of minutes to collect herself enough to speak. She found that crying like that and letting Evie hold her really helped. She looked up at the blue haired beauty who was now running a hand through her purple hair.

 

“Sorry,” Mal mumbled.

 

Evie shook her head.

 

“Hey, none of that,” Evie carefully wiped Mal’s tears with her thumbs and Mal found herself leaning into Evie’s touch. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Mal blushed, embarrassed. She never wanted to talk about this type of stuff but she realized her words were coming out of her lips before she could stop herself.

 

“I sort of lost my spot on the team,”

 

Evie tilted her head ever so slightly and Mal would take a moment to find it cute if she wasn’t in this specific situation.

 

“Well, now I most certainly lost it. But I meant… I lost it before,” Mal continued. “You sounded so excited when you said Harry mentioned I was team captain the other day that I, uh-“ Mal blushed, embarrassed and gulped, almost afraid to keep talking. “I didn’t have it in me to tell you I wasn’t team captain anymore. I… I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

 

And with that, Mal felt like a hypocrite. Evie shared with Mal, but Mal didn’t share with Evie. Well, at least not about hockey. She was ready for Evie to call her out on that. Especially after the blue haired beauty shared something so personal with her.

 

“I get it,”

 

_Hold on. What?_

Mal took a good look at Evie. She was looking at Mal with the same inviting expression, the same warm brown eyes. Mal even blinked to make sure she was seeing right.

 

“You’re not… mad?”

 

Evie’s eyes softened even more, if possible.

 

“I spent the last two years doing this. Keeping parts of me locked away because I didn’t want people to think I was a loser,” She shakes her head. There’s still a vital part of her story that she hasn’t shared with Mal, the part that she feared would make the smaller girl think she’s a loser. Worse. That she wasn’t worth it. “And I’m still coming to terms with the fact that it’s ok to let people see me. So, I get it,” Evie explained, her voice soft and reassuring.

 

Mal couldn’t believe her eyes.

 

“You’re _not_ a loser,” Mal replied. Evie cracked a little smile and nodded. It felt good to hear someone say that and mean it.

 

Then, Mal nodded to herself, got up and offered Evie her hand, helping her up.

 

“Let’s get out of here,”

 

Mal’s words were inviting and hopeful. Evie nodded and let Mal lead her out of the locker room and away from the ice rink. Evie didn’t know where Mal was taking her, not at all, but Evie already knew she’d follow the purple haired girl anywhere. After a bit of silent walking, Evie found herself on this abandoned park. For some reason, she had never been there before and it was quite the sight. It was abandoned, no one ever brought their kids there to play anymore but it looked picturesque and it was beautiful for it.

 

Mal was clearly familiar with the place because she guided them straight to the swings and sat on one, inviting Evie to sit on the other. She sat on the other swing and looked at Mal, who seemed to be suddenly lost in thought.

 

“I got into ice hockey because of my dad,” Mal then spoke up, her voice quiet and a little uncertain, like she had never said those word aloud. Evie looked at her, letting her know she had her undivided attention. “He was a professional player. A very good one, as well. At least, that’s what I was told,”

 

Evie didn’t know what to say.

 

“He, uh… He left. When I was just a baby. I never got to meet him. All I have are some pictures and what my mom told me,” Mal explained, slowly looking up to meet Evie’s eyes. She felt her chest warm because Evie was not looking at her with pity. She looked… invested. In listening, in understanding, in Mal, the girl who’s now telling her all this.

 

“…No memories?” Evie asked, quietly.

 

“Not a single one,” Mal replied, shaking her head. She then lifts her hand, showing off a ring with a pattern and blue undertones. “This is the only thing I have of him,”

 

Evie studied the ring for a few seconds before looking back at Mal.

 

“I got into ice hockey because of him, not because I liked it. I started to like it after a year or so, when I started playing in actual games and realized I liked how the adrenaline made me feel,”

 

“You did something you didn’t even like for a whole year?” Evie couldn’t help but wonder.

 

“Yeah,” Mal nodded and her eyes were filled with vulnerability and innocence, things that could be heard in her voice. “I was just a kid…I thought…that if I played ice hockey and became good at it…I thought he might come back. I thought that maybe like that, he’d want me around,”

 

Evie was speechless. Mal had this little sad smile on her lips, like she was endeared that itty bitty Mal had thought that.

 

“Then the years passed and obviously, I haven’t heard from him. I stayed because I started to like it and I became good at it. Until now, apparently. My coach… She said I was a selfish player, that I took too many risks that harmed the team, took the captain armband from me, and then benched me. If I don’t play the next two games, I won’t be eligible for the nationals and I can lose my scholarship. So, I tried to not be selfish. I passed the puck and gave others the chance to score and all and I still got scolded for not doing the right thing. That’s why I snapped,”

 

“…Why are you telling me all this?” Evie questioned in a loud whisper.

 

“Because I want to,” Mal shrugged. “I like talking to you. With you,” She added, blushing ever so slightly. “I like how you’re not looking at me any different than you did before,” That was just the truth. Mal shared because she felt comfortable with Evie. She knew Evie would understand and would listen without making Mal feel like an idiot.

 

Evie smiled. Being with Mal was so easy and so exhilarating. She has had more deep conversations with Mal than she had with any of her current friends (well maybe excluding Carlos, he’s been her rock and the best friend she’s ever had for quite a while now) and she’s just now realizing how easy it is to talk with her. She’s not really sure why, but she likes it and doesn’t want to let go of the girl in front of her.

 

“I like talking to you too,” Evie let out a little chuckle and Mal swears her hair was on fire from how much she blushed upon hearing that.

 

“I brought you here because this is where I come when I need to collect my thoughts. It’s my little hideout, of sorts. No one ever comes here,” Mal said with a smile.

 

“And you brought me?” Evie breathes out, her eyes widening.

 

“Well, yeah,” Mal shrugged. “I trust you,”

 

Evie couldn’t remember the last time someone trusted her like this and it made her heart hammer really hard against her ribcage.

 

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you!” Mal suddenly perked up with a bit of a mischievous grin. Evie had to refrain herself from swooning at how beautiful Mal looked like that.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What’s up with Jay and Carlos? I’m trying to annoy Jay into telling me but he won’t tell me shit,”

 

Evie chuckled at her antics.

 

“I’m really not supposed to say,”

 

“Oh, c’mon _ice princess_ , dish,”

 

The girls giggled in unison and Evie can’t lie, there’s butterflies in her stomach from Mal calling her ‘ _ice princess’_.

 

“Tell you what, come with me to practice tomorrow and I’ll help you get it out of Carlos,” Evie replied instead.

 

“Oh?” Mal raised an amused eyebrow at her. “Do I hear you _not so smoothly_ asking me out?” She rejoices, seeing Evie go red in the face.

 

“So what if I am?” Evie mumbled, all flushed.

 

“If you are, I’m saying yes, duh,” Mal grinned.

 

“Ah, so my ‘ _not so smooth’_ technique works after all,” Evie teased with a childish glint in her eyes that made Mal smile so big her dimples popped. Then she remembers something she was supposed to ask her before.

 

“Evie?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Why were you there? At the rink, I mean?”

 

“I wanted to watch you play, dork,” Evie replied like it was so obvious and chuckled softly.

 

Mal gives her a shy look.

 

“What?” Evie asked.

 

“It’s just… _nobody ever watches_ ,” Mal admitted quietly. “Harry is always competing as well and my mom… well she isn’t fond of ice hockey or of the idea of me playing it,”

 

Evie couldn’t help herself and placed a hand on top of Mal’s.

 

“ _For what it’s worth, I think you’re phenomenal_ ,”

 

Mal felt her eyes burn. Evie thought she was a phenomenal player.

 

“Thank you,” Mal managed to breathe out, a little proud smile growing on her pretty features.

 

Evie wasn’t lying. She had been standing there on the bleachers for a while, enough to see what everyone else saw in Mal. The most gifted player on that team. Incredible precision and some insane reflexes. She sort of realized that the feeling of pure bliss and admiration she felt watching Mal play was probably what everyone felt watching her skate. How Mal probably felt watching Evie skate. That’s when it truly hit her:

 

Evie missed skating. She missed skating for real, on an ice rink full of people cheering and chanting her name. The rush of adrenaline Mal mentioned before, Evie loved it too. She had been too scared to even entertain the possibility of making a comeback to competitive figure skating but after watching Mal and hearing about her intense desire of playing in official games… it didn’t feel so scary anymore. Not that she wasn’t terrified, still. But maybe she felt a little lighter and maybe she had an idea.

 

“How about some quid pro quo?”

 

Mal blinked.

 

“Huh?”

 

“I—“ Evie took a deep breath. “I want to skate, Mal. I want to stop being afraid. I want to feel the adrenaline rush again,”

 

Mal looked puzzled for a moment until she lit up like a Christmas tree.

 

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

 

Evie nodded shyly.

 

“You want to compete again?” Mal was practically bouncing on the swing.

 

Evie nodded again.

 

“But.. I can’t do it without you,” When Mal looked at her, surprised, Evie smiled. “I guess what I’m trying to say…I’m asking you for your help,”

 

“…Why me?” Mal looked so innocent, with those big green eyes of her widened at Evie’s request.

 

“Because… You’re passionate. Intense. Impulsive. I saw you today on the rink. Your desire to play, to stay on the rink for as long as possible is inspiring. I need that. I need to get that back. And I think that you’re the right person to help me. If you want to, of course. You’re free to say no,”

 

Mal took in Evie’s words and she felt like crying again. Evie looked at her impulsiveness, as a quality instead of a flaw, like everyone else seemed to point out.

 

“Evie, of course I’ll help,” Mal assured her, taking Evie’s hand in hers. “I’m not sure of how I’m going to do that exactly, but I will do everything I can,”

 

Evie beamed and squeezed Mal’s hand.

 

“Thank you so much!” She chuckled in delight.

 

Mal grinned along with her and then spoke up.

 

“You mentioned ‘quid pro quo’, though. What did you mean by that?”

 

Evie nodded. Right, she forgot to explain that part.

 

“Well, I don’t know much about ice hockey…But maybe I could try to help you get your spot back on the team? Figure skating might not be considered a team sport, not exactly, but team spirit was always something Carlos taught us about over the years. Maybe I could take advantage of that and help you with whatever your coach thinks it’s missing. We’d be helping each other. Something for something. Quid pro quo. Would you...like that?”

 

Mal didn’t miss a beat.

 

“Evie, I would love that. No one in that stupid team as ever cared enough to tell me what I was doing wrong. Having your help in any way would be an honor,”

 

Evie grinned again and there was this fire behind her eyes. Mal recognized that look immediately. It was her competitive look. That fiery determination behind her eyes was back and Mal vowed to make sure it stayed there.

 

“Harry is going to be running late; he has a project to finish for college. Want to come to our place?” Mal asked and then blushed a bit. “Maybe you’d like to know a bit more about ice hockey?”

 

Evie got up and helped Mal up.

 

“I’d love to know more,”

 

Mal grinned. And so did Evie, as the girls walked, side by side, both ready to take an important step in their personal growth and maybe into something more.

 

**_When all the stars align, it’s really special._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> No, I am not giving up on this story and yes, it's been a hot minute since I posted/updated anything really. But in between college and adulting I was left with little time for my creativity. And in light of recents events, it was a bit hard for me to pick this back up. I had to take care of myself and allow myself to feel and process what happened before I could think about coming back to writing. Cam is a big part of my life and the loss of him hit me really hard.
> 
> I am here, though, and with this new chapter. Not as long as the previous one but I really like how it turned out and it opens the door for everything I have planned next.
> 
> So, please bear with me? And I hope you enjoy this one.
> 
> See you next chapter :) x


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